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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26148718">Fae barad - Foreign soul</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elenyafinwe/pseuds/Elenyafinwe'>Elenyafinwe</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Betaed, Eventual Romance, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Modern Setting, Time Travel, Unrequited Crush, longfic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 11:42:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>31,668</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26148718</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elenyafinwe/pseuds/Elenyafinwe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Eri O'Kelly has both feet on the ground in the middle of business. Therefore, it does not suit her at all that a stranger suddenly appears on her sofa and claims to be Legolas. She doesn't really want to believe all this. But what if he is telling the truth? Then how on earth did he end up in 21st century London? Eri is faced with the difficult question of how she can help Legolas find his way back home.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Legolas Greenleaf &amp; Original Female Character(s), Legolas Greenleaf/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>37</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Im Legolas</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            A translation of

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/11851707">Fae barad - Fremde Seele</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elenyafinwe/pseuds/Elenyafinwe">Elenyafinwe</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Especially in the beginning there are many Elvish phrases. The translations are at the end of each chapter. Many thanks to my beta readers Müpfo and Allosaurus!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Shit," Eri O'Kelly kept mumbling to herself as she searched her purse for the front door key. "Shit, shit, shit, shit. Shit!"</p><p>Eri hated it when things didn't go the way they were supposed to, when people didn't do what she told them to do. It was about money, a lot of fucking money! It was always about money, of course, that was the most important thing of all. And that's why it was so important that people did what she told them to do.</p><p>If they didn't do it, it made Eri angry. Very angry.</p><p>Puffing, she tossed her handbag on the floor and fished her smartphone out of her jacket pocket. As she was about to dial her housekeeper's number, she saw the key that had fallen out of her pocket.</p><p>"Fucking thing," she growled. "You get back here right now!"</p><p>It was silly and childish, she knew that. And yet she was angry at the key right then. She just wanted some scapegoat for the lousy day at Saunders, the bank she was on the board of directors of. So she rammed the key into the lock of her front door more roughly than necessary.</p><p>When she had entered and the door behind her closed again, she dropped the bag on the floor again and leaned against the door with a sigh.</p><p>"A Scotch now ...", she murmured.</p><p>Mrs. Heatherton, her housekeeper, had certainly provided a glass for her at the bar, after, as she did every day, she had kept the house in order before the landlady came home. Maybe Eri drank too much ("A little whiskey in the morning never hurt anyone."), but she didn't really care. Alcohol calmed her nerves, and that was what she cared about.</p><p>She had two bars in the house, and apart from the one in the kitchen, she hardly ever needed the second one in the basement. She lived alone in the house on Park Street - except for her goldfish Max - and she didn't really need that house anyway. But she just wanted it, so she bought it. And you never knew when you were going to throw a big party to impress your colleagues.</p><p>Eri shook his head. Time for the Scotch, definitely. She pushed herself away from the door and headed for her kitchen.</p><p>Of course, she hadn't expected to have any other problems that evening, other than a long and exhausting working day that she found quite disastrous.</p><p>As it was chic and modern these days, she had a kitchen installed that was open to her living room. Somehow she liked to watch Max while she was cooking (or what she called cooking if she didn't order from the delivery service), swimming around in his glass next to the TV in the living room. So her first sight was usually of the bar, which was connected to the kitchen, where a Scotch was available, and then of the sofa and TV. And so she immediately saw that she was not alone.</p><p>A man sat, no, rather hung on her sofa and now raised his head when he noticed that someone had entered the room. Her first thought was to call the police. Her second was that the guy was dressed strangely. She could no longer suppress a scream.</p><p>"What the hell?! Get out of my house!" she yelled. "How dare you! Trespassing! Help!"</p><p>"<em>Elio anim!</em>" said the stranger, and his voice sounded alarmingly weak.</p><p>Eli froze. Her brain was working at full speed. The guy was wearing these strange clothes that reminded her of medieval markets, and what he was saying was definitely not English. But ... what was it then?</p><p>"What?", she just brought it out.</p><p>"<em>Elio anim!</em>" Now it sounded more urgent and imploring.</p><p>Only then did she notice the blood on her sofa, and it was not little. "Shit," it took her away in horror, and she slapped her hand over her mouth. No, this is definitely not the way an end of work should look like. Some crazy guy broke into her house, broke through her alarm system and now he was bleeding all over her Alcantara sofa.</p><p>And then there was what he had said. <em>Elio anim. </em>And all of a sudden the penny dropped.</p><p>Her colleagues didn't know that deep in her heart she was an out-and-out geek. They saw in her only the business woman whose only purpose in life was to climb the career ladder. Eri was careful not to let it be known that she loved to read all the thick tomes of Tolkien and Martin and that she had learned a little bit of Elvish. What the man had said to her was Sindarin.</p><p>Help me.</p><p>Yes, the madman seemed to need help in any case. So did she soon, if this went on like this.</p><p>"Shit," she kept repeating, "none of this is real now." Perplexed, she ran her hair through her head. "Help me. Help. Shit, I never cared about first aid courses!"</p><p>The stranger followed her every move attentively, while he himself seemed increasingly desperate and helpless. He did not seem to understand what was going on. Did he understand her at all? Eri doubted it. She rummaged deep in her memory and pulled out the few pieces of Elvish she could remember. It seemed so silly to her, but she just couldn't think of anything better.</p><p>"Uh, <em>dar</em>, no, <em>daro</em>," she stammered. "Wait here. I'm looking for the first aid kit."</p><p>His eyes lit up when he seemed to understand something.</p><p>"<em>Limann!</em>", he urged.</p><p>She didn't know the word, but somehow she knew that he was urging her to hurry. After she realized that he had already bled all over her sofa and that she would probably have to buy a new one, she realized it herself.</p><p>So why did she hesitate to call an ambulance? Something was not quite right about it, she sensed that. The sudden appearance, the strange clothes, the odd language... An ambulance would raise too many questions, questions she didn't want to answer - couldn't even answer.</p><p>The first aid kit was in the basement. It was a bit dusty, and she should have replaced it long ago, but it would have to do for now. At least she hoped so. This amount of blood scared her. Oh my goodness, she was a bank manager and took care of stock market transactions and didn't rehabilitate junkies or whatever on her sofa!</p><p>Jack. Jack! Yeah, Jack was the answer!</p><p>He was an old college friend of hers who had studied medicine and was now pursuing his career as a hospital emergency physician. And also the only one of her affairs that didn't end in disgrace and shame and broken vases. Involuntarily she had to smile. But what was even more important: Jack was a thoroughbred nerd. They had met at a round of tabletop (it must have been clichéd Dungeons &amp; Dragons) and somehow their friendship had survived until today. Jack had brought her to Tolkien and it was Jack who had urged her to learn Elvish. She never thought that this would be of any use to her.</p><p>First of all she would try the hardest. Then she would call Jack and hope that he was not on call at the hospital and could get to her as soon as possible. She couldn't let the poor bastard bleed to death in her living room - if only because she would have to explain the mess somehow, and it would most likely cost her her head. Jack just <em>had</em> to help!</p><p>The stranger was still hanging on her sofa. Of course, where else could he go? He didn't look as if he was going to get anywhere on his own. It was all bad, really really bad, and she doubted that she was doing the right thing here.</p><p>"Come on, Eri, you can do it," she murmured to herself. "You manage to stand up to the wolves of Wall Street every day, you'll probably be able to feed a junkie again.</p><p>Even though he looked as if he was about to step away at any moment (and that would probably not be good at all), he followed her every move with all the attention he seemed to be able to muster. Confusion and fear were in his eyes, and apparently he didn't understand what was happening here any more than she did, maybe even less.</p><p>Eri looked at the disaster and knew right away that a few old gauze bandages would do very little to help. Something had slashed the stranger from top to bottom. Well, maybe Eri was exaggerating her assessment, but whether it was really from top to bottom or just the flank didn't seem to make much difference to her.</p><p>"None of this is really happening here, I just want my damn after-work scotch," she told herself as she repeatedly shook her head and tried to save what could be saved with a little gauze and pressure pads.</p><p>The stranger looked at her with a frown for a moment, then he started talking. Again what she thought was Sindarin, as crazy as it seemed to her. She did not understand a word. Jack's lessons had been too long-ago.</p><p>"Shut up, it's not good for you," she said, and when she realized that sounded a bit too harsh, she added: "I, uh, <em>ú-pe... ú-pedin</em>, uh, shit ... <em>ú-pedin</em>, ah! <em>ú-pedin edhellen</em>. Shit, this is stupid."</p><p>"<em>Ú?</em>" he repeated and sounded disappointed. "<em>Ú-beth?</em>"</p><p>She didn't understand anything again; she was already amazed at herself that she could still gather enough for a stammered sentence. Yet she shook her head.</p><p>This seemed to give him an idea and he said something again. This time, however, she could not recognize it as Sindarin. She couldn't even guess what language it might resemble now. A little perplexed, she simply repeated her pieced-together sentence to make it clear that she still had no idea what he was saying.</p><p>This seemed to discourage him completely. He collapsed even more than he already had and laid his head on the back of the sofa. Now he didn't even observe what she was doing and just stared into the room with an empty gaze. Somehow she felt sorry for him.</p><p>The gauze bandages did not help much, just as she had expected. After she had done everything she could, she got up and went into the kitchen to wash the blood off her hands and bring him a glass of water.</p><p>"<em>Im Legolas</em>," he said as she handed him the glass, pointing at himself with a weak gesture.</p><p>"Just don't take the pills they sell you at the club next time," she replied. "Then such a disaster doesn't happen and you don't hallucinate that you are an elf. I'll call Jack now. <em>Mellon elia</em>, yes? He can help. I hope so. Um, and I'm, no, im Eri. Crazy guy."</p><p>"Eri?," he repeated, as if he needed to get used to the sound of the foreign name. "<em>Estadh chen dail.</em>" He tried to smile, but because of the pain he suffered, it ended up more like a grimace.</p><p>"Yes, yes, and now shut up and let me call Jack," she turned him away without once again understanding what he had said. "Otherwise you'll end up ruining my sofa, and we don't want that."</p><p>She ran back into the hall and took her cell phone out of her pocket. Then she dialed Jack's number and walked back into the living room. That's when she noticed that the stranger was about to step away.</p><p>"Shit," she cursed once again - she cursed clearly too many times that evening - and jumped to his side. Somewhat roughly she slapped his cheek. "Stay here, okay?!" Panic resonated in her voice.</p><p>At that moment Jack took off. "Hey, Eri, what's up? Seldom enough to hear from you."</p><p>"Jack, I have a medical emergency here!" She hoped that she could still pull herself together enough to make Jack understand the urgency of her distress and also the difficulty of her situation.</p><p>"What? Then call the nearest hospital! I'm at home and not at work!" He now sounded just like the emergency doctor.</p><p>"I can't, no time to explain. I think he's dying on me! Just come as soon as you can!"</p><p>"Eri, take it easy. Take a deep breath. What kind of life-threatening situation is there?"</p><p>"A cut or something. A lot of blood. God, so much blood! Maybe the guy fell into something sharp, I don't know."</p><p>"Okay, I'm coming. But I want an explanation. This is so not like you."</p><p>"Yes, yes, Just come!"</p><p>Until now, she had somehow managed to keep her composure, despite the stranger on her sofa, all that blood and this terrible injury. But now, when the stranger threatened to step away, her facade began to crumble. Should she just give him a coffee? Bullshit! <em>Stupid idea, Eri, very stupid idea</em>, scold her herself.</p><p>She hated helplessness. Not being able to do anything and not being able to get anywhere on her own was something that completely contradicted her. If only Jack would hurry ...</p><p>It took over twenty minutes before she heard tires squealing in front of her driveway. Considering the London traffic, Jack had gotten to her surprisingly quickly, and yet those twenty minutes were probably among the most nerve-wracking in Eri's life. She had stayed with the stranger during this time and had tried to keep him conscious. Although she didn't know much about medicine, she sensed that it might not be good if he really stepped away. Anyway, that's what they always did in the doctor series ...</p><p>At least she had enough time to take a closer look at the stranger. She paid special attention to his clothing, which she had previously only thought about with a fleeting thought. It was really strange, as if he came directly from one of those medieval markets that were sometimes held in the city and the surrounding area. He was dressed all in green and brown leather, artfully embroidered with delicate gold thread. His boots also matched his medieval look, and moreover, they did not even look cheap, but rather as if they were an elaborate custom-made item. If he was a cosplayer, then a pretty good one.</p><p>That gave her the idea to look in his pockets for some papers. If he was bleeding all over her sofa, at least she wanted to know who he was!<em> Im Legolas</em>, such nonsense ... Since he didn't seem to be able to give her any answers at the moment, she simply decided that it would be acceptable for her to do the search herself.</p><p>To her surprise, however, she found nothing more than a knife that the stranger had tied to his boot. She quickly took it from him; an armed man in her house made her feel considerably more uncomfortable. The fact that he had no papers with him, however, caused her just as much concern. It would raise questions, questions she did not want to ask, if it ever came to public attention.</p><p>When she heard the car in her driveway, she immediately jumped up and hurried to the door. Jack didn't even ring the doorbell, she had already opened it.</p><p>"Quick!" she urged, but it wasn't necessary.</p><p>"Where have you got him?" asked Jack as he pushed past her. He had a suitcase with him, which Eri recognized as a standard first-aid kit from the car. It wouldn't be much, Eri realized, and again doubts arose as to whether she was doing the right thing by not calling the hospital and asking Jack for secret help instead.</p><p>"In the living room," she replied.</p><p>He nodded and went ahead.</p><p>"What is his name? Did he have any papers on him that could identify him?" he asked further.</p><p>She shook her head. "This is all very strange, I don't quite understand it either," she replied, "but I guess that can wait for now. It looks really bad, I think."</p><p>When they entered the living room and he could get a first impression of the situation, he nodded grimly. "Oh, yeah, you can say that again." With a few big steps he was with the wounded man and looked at the damage.</p><p>"Strange," he murmured. "That looks like a cut from a large blade. But maybe it was just a metal splinter, construction debris on a construction site or something. In a hospital, I could better check if there is any damage to internal organs..."</p><p>"Look at the clothes," Eri told him. "Maybe he was playing knights with his buddies."</p><p>"It doesn't matter for now anyway, first we have to clean the wound and then sew it up," Jack changed the subject. "Eri, you have to help me and boil me a pot of water. In it you boil the cleanest cloths you have and sterilize a sewing needle in a candle flame. Eri, you must have vodka or some other high-proof, clear alcohol in the house, I know you. Bring it to me. We use it to clean the wound and sterilize the thread. Holy shit, do I really have to sew something like that with household thread?"</p><p>At first she made a face, but then she nodded and went to the kitchen. Only then did she notice the Scotch, which was still in the bar, all alone and abandoned. If she forgot her own Scotch, her nerves were in a bad way. She reached for the glass and threw it down. Her punishment was a wheeze and burning in her throat. Not a good idea.</p><p>They went to work together. Eri wasn't used to being told what to do, but she couldn't deny that this time she was happy about it. Jack was a good doctor who not only succeeded with his patients, but also knew very well how to deal with the people who witnessed the accident. A skill that he had acquired during his years as an emergency physician and which proved to be useful time and again. He even told her openly that it wasn't really necessary to boil the towels, but at least she had something to do and it couldn't hurt.</p><p>He asked no further questions for the time being and concentrated on his work, which he carried out with routine and practiced hand movements. Eri did what he told her to do and yet somehow felt useless. She tried to distract herself by thinking about how she could replace this sofa with a new one when all this was over, without raising too many questions. Probably the solution was just a hefty surcharge to the disposal company she had to hire.</p><p>"How does it look?" she asked at some point when she could no longer stand it. Actually, she did care about the stranger and not about her furniture, if she was honest.</p><p>"It would have been better if you had called the emergency service, since I can't check if organs are damaged," Jack said. "But I think we'll patch him up, if he's lucky. With needle and found to stuff socks ... By the way, not all his blood is his. There is also some with an unusual darker color."</p><p>Meanwhile the wound was closed and Jack started to prepare the infusion with isotonic saline solution to compensate for the blood loss. Eri had no idea why one had such a thing in the car and could spontaneously conjure it up, if one didn't even have sterile and self-dissolving sewing threads with him. Doctors, that is.</p><p>"Do you think there was a brawl or something he was in?" Again this bad feeling.</p><p>"I have no idea," Jack confessed. "I have never seen such a coloration, and I don't think it's animal blood either. This guy is a complete mystery. How did he even get into your house? Did you dump him here?"</p><p>"What? No!" she exclaimed. "I came home after work and found him just like this on my sofa. The weirdest thing is that the alarm system wasn't triggered."</p><p>Now that the worst seemed to be over, she herself realized how strange it was. She was pruning. "I should have it checked," she concluded.</p><p>"I would advise that," he replied. "So, what do you think of all this? His appearance, the injury, the clothes. And he has no papers either, you said?"</p><p>"Yes, and I found this knife tied to his boot," she said, and held the weapon out to him. "It looks like something from the Weta workshop."</p><p>"And that coming from your mouth..."</p><p>"Now hold on: he speaks Sindarin."</p><p>"Eri, what was in that scotch just now?" Jack stared at her sharply.</p><p>She returned the look with indignation. "You know that I don't always quite conform to the norms in my life, but I have never, I repeat, never taken drugs beyond alcohol and cigarettes. Well, and the odd stimulant or two during my studies. But that was years ago! I tell you, he speaks Elvish. To be honest, that was the main reason I called you, Jack, because you always knew how to do that much better than I did."</p><p>"Eri, I beg you, I don't believe you. He really doesn't want to understand English?" Jack looked at her with an incredulous look. "On the other hand, you're not the type of person who just stalls your friends with a stupid story."</p><p>"There you go!" she said triumphantly. "Because you know me well enough for that. I swear by everything I hold sacred, that's the way it is and I don't think he understands English. Maybe he took some stuff too often while watching Lord of the Rings."</p><p>"What did he say, let's ask like this," Jack now wanted to know, obviously trying to be more rational about it.</p><p>"I don't know," Eri confessed. "As I said, you can do it much better than I can. The only thing I understood without a doubt was <em>Im Legolas</em>, and that was only because the introduction scene of Arwen in the film is so striking to me."</p><p>"What? He thinks he's Legolas? But he doesn't exactly look like Orlando Bloom." Jack cast a skeptical glance at the stranger, who now, after Jack had sedated him to tend to the wound, was sleeping on the sofa with calm breath and seemed to be out of the woods for the time being.</p><p>"According to the hypothetical case of Legolas really popping up at my door, I honestly didn't expect him to look like Orlando Bloom either," Eri noted. "But back to the subject: what do we do with him now?"</p><p>"First of all, we should get him into a bed where he's more comfortable than on your sofa - at least for now," he concluded. "After that, we still have a few questions."</p><p>"Then bring him to the guest room here on the first floor," she determined.</p><p>"I almost expected you to just get a sleeping bag from the chamber now," he noted dryly.</p><p>She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "And then? Always step over him at breakfast? It's already dirty enough here anyway, that doesn't make any difference anymore."</p><p>Jack grinned. "Whatever you say. Will you help me?"</p><p>Together they put the stranger in Eri's guest room. Following a whim, she even took off his boots and put them next to the bed. Then they left the room again. Eri wanted to go back to the living room, but then she remembered the ruined sofa and she left it. Instead, they simply stayed in the hallway.</p><p>"So why didn't you want to call a hospital?" Jack now wanted to know.</p><p>Eri made an indeterminate gesture. "I thought you knew that now," she said. "Imagine if I had called an ambulance. They would very much like to know who he is and how he came to me. And a strange guy like that, who suddenly shows up at my place, raises questions. Please. How could I be responsible for this?"</p><p>He looked at her sternly. "Do you realize that that could have cost a human life?" he said, sounding little pleased. "I don't have much more medical equipment at home than the average citizen does, you know. That I at least had the sedative was a coincidence; you don't even have something like that in your bedside table. And this is actually a case for the emergency room, where I'm not sure I can do enough with the little I have here alone. Especially since the police would certainly be interested in this case. Something is going on here. Strange guy suddenly appears in your house, he is injured, he is talking crazy ... Really, Eri, I think you are doing something wrong just to keep your name clean. Don't do that."</p><p>She gnashed her teeth. "What would you do?" she asked, knowing for herself that her tone was too cool. "You're a good doctor, I trust you and the guy seems to be getting better soon. Then he can disappear again and everyone is happy. End of story."</p><p>He shook his head. "I don't know... But you are a grown woman, Eri. Do what you want."</p><p>She took several deep breaths and ran her hand over her face. "What a way to end the day," she sighed. "This is not how I imagined it."</p><p>Jack didn't seem very happy with the overall situation, but he didn't seem willing to talk Eri into conscience any further either. "Then ... just let him sleep for now and make sure he doesn't get up. I will come back tomorrow and see if I can bring something from the clinic. At least a proper thread for suturing."</p><p>"And what can I do in the meantime?" she asked. Being left alone with this guy again, she didn't quite like it. She didn't quite want to admit it, but she felt a little overwhelmed by the situation.</p><p>"Have another Scotch and make sure he stays lying down. Oh, and refresh your Sindarin," was Jack's simple answer.</p><p>"Wow, helpful."</p><p>He just shrugged his shoulders. "That's simply all that's possible at the moment. But the doctor in me is reluctant to do so. My goodness, having to sew this with a normal household thread is awful."</p><p>"At least he doesn't seem dangerous," she said, though more to her own reassurance. "At least not at the moment."</p><p>"Keep the knife," he advised her. "Better yet. Otherwise he didn't have anything else on him that could be used as a weapon, did he?"</p><p>"No, nothing at all. Just the empty quiver, but I didn't see a bow, nor any other weapons, even if it looks like he might have attached a knife to the quiver.</p><p>"Man, hey, this is all crazy," Jack sighed. "I just don't believe this is really happening."</p><p>"Do you think I feel better?" Eri replied. "Me of all people! I just can't believe it."</p><p>"Honestly, let's just wait and see tomorrow. Then everything will be a bit calmer and we'll see where it goes."</p><p>The first time that evening she smiled. " Gosh, Jack, sometimes I'm really glad that I know you," she said.</p><p>"I always say, there's a reason I'm the only guy you didn't kick the ass out the door that night!" He smiled cheekily.</p><p>She sighed, but only pretendedly annoyed. "If you don't want me to do it again, you'd better shut up now."</p><p>"The boss has spoken!" He stood at attention. "Then I'd better hold my ground. The boss should still do her homework and repeat her Sindarin lessons."</p><p>"Ha ha. Very funny." She laughed dryly.</p><p>"Watch out, in the end an elf prince really ruined your sofa."</p><p>"Are you provoking the kick?!"</p><p>Now he had to laugh heartily. "You know, Eri, I've always liked it about you that I can tease you so easily. Come on, that's funny."</p><p>"No, it's not!" she protested.</p><p>He got serious again. "Hmm, good. You're actually right. Not funny. Well, then I'm going back home. If anything happens or his condition worsens, call me immediately."</p><p>"It's a good thing tomorrow is the weekend."</p><p>"And I'm not on duty."</p><p>She walked him to the door and thanked him for his help. Then they said goodbye.</p><p>Eri wouldn't tell anyone, of course, but that night she did indeed dig out her old Elvish documents.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Im Legolas - I am Legolas, Sindarin<br/>Elio anim! - Help me!, Sindarin<br/>Daro - wait, Sindarin<br/>Limann - fast, Sindarin [derived adverb of lim]<br/>Ú-bedin edhellen - I do not speak Elvish, Sindarin [Wrongly realized by Eri without lenation]<br/>Ú? Ú-beth? - No? Not a word?, Sindarin<br/>Mellon elia - A friend helps, Sindarin<br/>Estadh chen dail. - You call yourself beautiful/lovely, Sindarin</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. On aberrations</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">
  <span>The next day, a very sunny saturday for London autumns, Jack was on the mat early.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Does a box of chocolates do it as thanks for your help?" Eri greeted him.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Hmm ... it would have to be a very large box," he thought. "How is our problem child?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Still sleeping peacefully, last time I looked," she said as they entered the hallway.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Well, let's say good morning."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>When they entered the guest room, they saw that the stranger was awake and apparently already awaiting them. Jack made a reprehensive noise when he noticed that the stranger was about to sit up.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"No, no, lie still or the seam will come undone," he said, hurried to the bed and pressed the other back into the pillows with gentle pressure. At first he seemed confused, but then he understood the gesture and let it happen.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"How are you," Jack now inquired, but only got an uncomprehending look. He looked briefly at Eri, seeking advice, which only meant that she had told him after all. Then Jack sighed and tried again: "Can you understand us?</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Again, he received only an uncomprehending and rather helpless look, followed by a tentative shake of the head. Jack rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand. "Oh, my goodness."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I told you so", Eri followed up. "Shall I fetch my Elvish dictionary?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"You still have that?" he asked her incredulously.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Yes. There's enough room for a little junk here."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>When she came back with the book and handed it to Jack, he started leafing through it. "Well, that should work, let's give it a try." Then he turned to the stranger again, "</span>
  <span>
    <em>Heniodh men?</em>
  </span>
  <span>"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Now the stranger's mine brightened considerably. Eagerly he nodded. "</span>
  <span>
    <em>Anin, cerin. Ú-bedin lamel, pedin Sindarin.</em>
  </span>
  <span>"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Uh, that was a bit quick," Jack said. "And that's really crazy. «</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>The stranger seemed to understand that Jack didn't quite understand him, and repeated what he had said more slowly. Jack had to look up some vocabulary, but then he nodded. "</span>
  <span>
    <em>Anin, henion</em>
  </span>
  <span>," he said as confirmation. "Uh, </span>
  <span>
    <em>ú-garin mae Sindarin</em>
  </span>
  <span>," he added with an apologetic smile.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>The stranger smiled. "</span>
  <span>
    <em>Cenin. Ú-thu.</em>
  </span>
  <span>"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Eri cleared his throat. "I would like to have a say," she reminded him.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"He seems to be feeling a bit better now, at least he seems to be quite talkative," Jack said. "And he speaks Sindarin, as you can hear very well. I find all this really strange, but what the hell, for now. It's working, this will have to do for now." Then he turned to the stranger again. "</span>
  <span>
    <em>Mae le?</em>
  </span>
  <span>"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"</span>
  <span>
    <em>Cuion, fern. Hannon le. Istodh laew o nestad</em>
  </span>
  <span>," the stranger replied.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Jack nodded. "Well, that's something." Addressing Eri, he said: "At least he won't die right away. Frankly, I am astonished. After I wasn't so sure last night, he seems to be quite fit again. This self-healing is amazing."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>He looked up some vocabulary in the book again, then he turned to the stranger again. "</span>
  <span>
    <em>Naro ceridh men o len?</em>
  </span>
  <span>," he wanted to know. "</span>
  <span>
    <em>Nodh man ah bârel?</em>
  </span>
  <span>"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>The stranger seemed to have to think for a moment what Jack was trying to tell him. But then he nodded. "</span>
  <span>
    <em>Im Legolas Thranduilion</em>
  </span>
  <span>," he said again. "</span>
  <span>
    <em>Nostannen n'Eryn Galen.</em>
  </span>
  <span>"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Jack," Eri now interfered. "Perhaps he fell on his head somehow and has gone mad now." She understood almost nothing in this conversation, but there were enough proper names in this sentence that she knew what the stranger meant.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"In that case I really should insist more vehemently on having him admitted clinically," Jack said. "I am an anesthesiologist, not a neurologist. But you know what: We'll just play along with this for now and see where it takes us."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"This is all crazy," mumbled Eri, but still she let him go and decided to do the same for him.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"</span>
  <span>
    <em>Suilon le, Legolas. Im Jack Cooper, mellon nín Eri O'Kell</em>
  </span>
  <span>y," Jack turned to the stranger again - Legolas, as Eri corrected himself. "</span>
  <span>
    <em>Istodh</em>
  </span>
  <span>, uh, </span>
  <span>
    <em>i bâr?</em>
  </span>
  <span>" Since he was apparently lacking some vocabulary, Jack underlined his statement with a gesture that encompassed the room and the house to make clear what he meant.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Again Legolas pondered briefly, then shook his head. "</span>
  <span>
    <em>Mas non?</em>
  </span>
  <span>"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Now it was Jack's turn to leaf through his book at a loss.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"What did he say?", Eri wanted to know.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I asked him if he knew where he was," he replied. "Apparently that is not the case, but I did not understand his question. The words are not in here."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Just tell him that we are here in London and that this is my house," she suggested.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Jack nodded and repeated in Sindarin what she had said.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Legolas looked at her irritated, as if he was hearing for the first time about the existence of one of the greatest cities in the world. "</span>
  <span>
    <em>Ú-lastannen o Landen.</em>
  </span>
  <span>"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"No, London," Jack corrected and once again gave Eri an irritated look.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>She was confused, too. How could one pronounce London so wrongly?</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Lan... Londen," Legolas repeated hesitantly.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Well, almost," sighed Jack.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>That seemed to give Legolas an idea. "</span>
  <span>
    <em>Telin pedi lamel.</em>
  </span>
  <span>"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Okay," Jack said slowly.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"What is it?", urged Eri.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I think he wants us to teach him English," he said. "On second thought, maybe it's not such a bad idea. Let's assume he really is who he claims to be. Elves are very good at languages, so that would really make things a lot easier than if I just keep on stammering nonsense."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"When did you start to believe him?" she asked in surprise.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Not at all," he said dryly. "At the moment, however, it's easier to accept this as the truth for now and ask later what it really looks like. After all, this is how we are getting on."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"To be honest, I don't see where we have made progress here," she countered.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"He wants to learn English, and we have a few books to learn Elvish. I think that's a basis to work with," he commented. "I think that's how we're really getting ahead."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Well, at least I asked you for help," she admitted. </span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Okay." Jack turned back to Legolas. "Let's start with the basics," he said, pointing at himself. "</span>
  <span>
    <em>Im Jack.</em>
  </span>
  <span> I am Jack."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Legolas beamed and repeated eagerly.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I just don't believe all this," Eri sighed.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Over the next few hours, they were busy teaching the elf all sorts of phrases and vocabulary - and Eri wondered when she had started calling him that as well. His powers of comprehension were astonishing; he literally absorbed all the words that seemed to be really foreign to him. </span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Meanwhile, Jack drove to his home and picked up some of his clothes while Eri continued his lessons. Legolas' old clothes were dirty and torn, but he was coy to put on one of her nightgowns in front of Eri so she could wash and sew his clothes. Jack offered to borrow some of his clothes, which he accepted after he understood what they wanted to tell him.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>At least Legolas seemed to have good manners and was very polite. He constantly thanked them for everything and seemed very grateful that they had decided to help him. Eri no longer understood the world, but it was just charity, even though Jack remarked with astonishment that he was not used to such things from her.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"You know, I may sit on the board of directors of the company, and you often have to be an ass, but that doesn't mean that I always am," Eri replied.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"But then you could certainly get a cheap loan for me sometime if I needed one," Jack suggested. "Like this as thanks."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"That's not quite in accordance with the law, though," she said. "And not my corner, by the way."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"We should have called an ambulance, just for the record, I would have been obliged to anyway."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Okay, you're right. I'll see what I can do."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>That was more than just a box of chocolates, but this was not a Merci situation either.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>As soon as he was even remotely able to formulate a question (and that was surprisingly fast), Legolas would pester her with all kinds of questions. He wanted to know the name and function of each thing. Jack tried to keep him calm, but he was fighting a losing battle. However, after he had examined the injury again and replaced the stitches with self-dissolving threads from the hospital, he took Eri aside.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"In all my years as a doctor, I have never seen this happen before," he said in amazement.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"What is it?" she wanted to know.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"The healing has already visibly begun," he reported. "That may also explain why he is already fresh and alert again, after he was half delirious yesterday when you found him. Since he was more dead than alive yesterday and I wasn't even sure he was going to make it ... well, my worries were probably unfounded. Crazy."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Jack, can I ask you for something else?" Eri asked a little timidly.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Sure."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Can you take care of him for a little while first?" she asked. "He's like a big baby who wants to learn everything and ... well, I just need some distance from the whole thing. Have to think about it and stuff. As a doctor, you seem to be able to take it easier somehow, but I just can't. Shit, man…"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Sure, better is", he agreed. "Take an aspirin if you have one in the house. And you might not want to sit in the living room."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Oh! Don't remind me of the mess!" she moaned.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"This can wait, Eri. Calm down for a while."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"It's better with a Scotch than an aspirin."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"You drink too much.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Only sometimes. And I think it's allowed now."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Jack just shrugged his shoulders and let her do her thing.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Eri decided to try it on the terrace with a scotch and a face mask. The day was mild and sunny, the temperatures were pleasant. Lying on a chaise longue on the terrace was certainly a good way to relax.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Some guy showed up claiming to be Legolas, she thought after she had made herself comfortable. He only spoke Sindarin (and probably Westron) and seemed to be completely out of place here. Add to that the strange clothes like from a fantasy movie and the knife, which also didn't look quite normal. And how he himself also looked. As if he was not quite from this world. She was reluctant to use the word "beautiful" with men, but it just applied to him. She had never seen such even, elegant facial features in a man before, nor had she seen such silky smooth, long hair. Even after waking up this morning, he hadn't looked a bit dishevelled.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>But didn't Legolas have blond hair?, it went through her head. Well, Peter Jackson had interpreted it that way, but if she thought about it, Tolkien had never made a clear statement. So the fact that her Legolas had dark blond, almost brown hair didn't mean anything. And what about the ears? Well, they were a bit pointed, in fact, more leaf-shaped than round. That looked a bit strange, but there were enough freaks out there who had such ears operated on …</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Actually everything fit. Nevertheless, her mind vehemently refused to believe it too. Legolas didn't just pop up bleeding on her sofa! Such a thing happened only in bad fanfictions! </span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Bullshit", she muttered and had to laugh at the absurdity of her situation.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>At least it was the weekend and Mrs. Heatherton wasn't coming, so she had Saturday and Sunday to think about it in peace.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>What if he really was Legolas? What then?</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"No, we'd better not," she murmured, not wanting to think that thought any further for the time being.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>She plucked the slices of cucumber from her eyes and went back into the living room through the open patio door. She avoided looking in the direction of the ruined sofa and instead went straight to her record player. She was already about to reach for Beethoven's Fifth ("A little drama.") when she had to smile again and yet put on the record with the film soundtrack of the first Lord of the Rings.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Gee, Eri, you have a dumb sense of humor," she said to herself.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Max stared at her out of his glass and was completely unimpressed by all this. For him, the world was fine as long as every evening his food flakes trickled down to the water from above.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>She was startled when she noticed that she hadn't fed Max the night before.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Poor boy, we'll just have two portions today. One now and one later."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>After the fish had been fed and the music came out of the record player's speakers at a pleasant volume, she went outside again. She left the terrace door open again to listen to the music and let her thoughts drift. She did not want to think any further about her little elf problem.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>For quite a while she had her peace and quiet until she heard soft footsteps behind her.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Eri, can I talk to you?", Jack asked.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>She growled unwillingly. "If you must. I actually wanted to relax a bit."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Yes, of course, and I wanted to give you a little rest as well. But it's not completely unimportant." He took one of the patio chairs and sat down next to her.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Gee, Jack, it's not so important now that you don't even give me time to take off my face mask and my robe," she protested.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I didn't know you were so sensitive about that," he noted somewhat irritated.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Yes!," growled Eri. A bit more rough than intended. She got up and disappeared into the upper floor of her house, where her bathroom and bedroom were located. Shortly after, she came down again, properly dressed and with her face cleaned, and sat down with Jack. "There we go. Even if I didn't want to think about our nerd right now."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"But I think we should," he said. "I'm sure you've already come to the conclusion that all the pieces of the puzzle fit together too well and it just has to be right."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Only it's not every day that Elven princes pop up and bleed all over your sofa."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Are you mad about the sofa, is that it?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Well, a little," she admitted. "The cost of new is not the problem, rather to get rid of it without any big questions. To pass it off as a red wine stain seems a bit unbelievable to me."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Then just say you were performing satanic rituals that went a bit wrong and in the course of which you accidentally stabbed your cat," Jack said dryly. </span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Eri's corner of her mouth twitched and then she had to laugh out loud.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Eri, your laugh is and will remain hideous!" But he too had to laugh.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>When they had both calmed down again, he went on. "But let's just suppose that this really happened. It's totally crazy, I know, and scientifically impossible to explain front and back. But suppose. What do we do then?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Eri sighed. "Take him back?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"But how?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I don't know." She shrugged her shoulders. "Legolas doesn't belong here. He hasn't even left my house and already seems overwhelmed by many things. And that was just the light switch in the guest room and the air conditioning. Will he think that the coffee machine wants to eat him? And the car will tear him apart?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Eri, I'm serious," admonished Jack.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Me too!", she held against it. "You had a lot of fun teaching him English and improving your Elvish yourself. But in the meantime I was thinking about such things. And more importantly, should we tell him that he's just a fictional character in a fantasy book?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Is it fictional at all, have you thought about that yet?", Jack threw in with his face he had when he was sitting on a medically difficult case and let the scientist inside out who wanted to explore the whole thing.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Eri hesitated. "Tolkien had always pretended to have only translated Frodo and Bilbo's notes in the Red Book. Do you mean...?" She didn't finish.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I can't help but think that all this is really happening and that he is not just mentally confused," Jack said. "Just the fact that he knows Sindarin vocabulary that I have never read about in any scripture and that I'm sure Christopher Tolkien doesn't know either. And that they also fit too well into the language system. No lunatic imagined this together, this is real. So yes, maybe Tolkien had never just pretended. He always said that Middle-earth was an earlier stage of development of our world. Middle-earth alone, Midgard. So strictly speaking, we have a time traveler here."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Welcome to the twenty-first age," she commented dryly. She knew all that Jack was telling her, and yet she still had her problems accepting it. "It's crazy, it's completely crazy."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Yes, it is," he agreed with her in the chest sound of conviction. "But I've got a fuse. I want to solve this mystery now. I'm a doctor, I can do this. There's got to be some rational explanation."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"We will read a lot of Tolkien in the next few days, I suppose," she concluded.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Exactly," he confirmed. "And we will ask Legolas. But for that he must first learn English better. Considering his enormous powers of comprehension, however, that should be done quickly. Honestly, I have never seen anyone learn anything, no matter what, so quickly."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Don't forget his self-healing powers," she recalled.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"You see, these are two more details that indicate that all this must be true," he noted. "Elves love languages, and their bodies are much more resistant than those of humans."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Do you know what's coming to my mind right now?" Eri said. "Do you actually know how old he is? Probably a few hundred years. Or a thousand! My goodness, I can't imagine that."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>The longer she seemed to occupy herself with the thought, the more willing she seemed to accept the obvious. It made the whole thing so much easier than making up some crazy story about drugs and junkies and cosplays. She decided to drop her defenses. Besides, it wasn't every day you had a prince in the house, not even in London. The only time you met them was in the bar.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Strange, isn't it? But let's drop that, we've digressed," Jack changed the subject. "How do we deal with him? Culture shock and all that ..."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"You're the doctor, you tell me."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Psychology was a private hobbyhorse only out of boredom, and Elvish psyche is not one of them," he said. "But we should take it slowly. Despite his high regenerative ability, he should stay in bed for the next few days and take it easy. It's entirely conceivable that his injury was a sword blade or something, and since it's Legolas, it was probably an orc whose blades were probably rusted. I did what I could to avoid sepsis and gave him antibiotics, but you never know. Who knows what kind of bacteria cultures they have in Middle-earth. He also has to drink a lot to compensate for the blood loss. I don't know if this is relevant here, but just to be on the safe side. Don't forget to eat, preferably light food first, all European-rural and not sushi or something like that".</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"You say that as if I was now responsible for his physical well-being," Eri noted.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>He nodded. "I think it's better if you keep him with you for now. As I said, he needs rest anyway, and for his own good, we shouldn't let him go out on the street for the time being. As I said, culture shock."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I have to go back to work on Monday just like you," she reminded him. "What will I do with him then?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I'll just tell him to stay in bed for a few more days, maybe longer than necessary," Jack said. "He compared me to Elrond because I seem to be such an excellent healer. I think he admires me for it."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Eri had to snort at the idea. "Well, you're an emergency doctor, but that... still, too good!"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>He agreed. "Actually, I feel sorry for him, he just doesn't know any better. Of course he does. Anyway, he will do what I tell him to do. He seems to be quite patient, even though he's probably even more eager than us to understand what happened here. I imagine it's terrible. You wake up hurt in a completely strange world and you don't even understand the language, let alone the rest of it."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Suddenly Eri became serious again. "Oh man, you're right. That must be really awful", she said compassionately. "I had never seen it like that before. Probably pretty mean that I think more about my sofa than about something like that."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I'm starting to understand you somehow," said Jack. "Doesn't make you very sympathetic, but well."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Thanks..."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"No offense, but I like you anyway."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I know you do." She smiled conciliatory.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Well, at least now we have a weekend job with his language lessons. Do you have a storybook or something like that in the house? Maybe you could give it to him to read on Monday. Something light. And if it has something to do with fantasy, maybe it's not all wrong, maybe it's more familiar to him."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Hmm, let me see." She rubbed her chin. "Somewhere I have a Grimm translation of Irish fairy tales, I think it sounds appropriate, doesn't it? But do you think he'll understand? And the writing..."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Give him your Elvish documents in addition. I'm sure he'll be able to teach himself just as well on his own while we're back at work."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"What I wouldn't give to be that gifted. Enviable."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"You got that right. I'm beginning to understand the Númenorians."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>They laughed again.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Watch out, you'll end up with Sauron in your house," joked Eri.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"So Sauron was always one of my favorite characters," Jack said.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Don't let Legolas hear that. Maybe he still mistakes your acne remnants from your youth for an Orc." Eri had to giggle.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Sometimes you are really nasty. Like... like an orc!" Jack still had to grin, even though he was reluctantly reminded of the craters on his face, which were the remnants of his skin disease during puberty.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Oh God, let's stop! The jokes are not getting any better," Eri snorted.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Heniodh men? - Do you understand us?, Sindarin<br/>Anin, cerin. - yes [self-education, derived from the formation of penin, which means "no"], [that] I do, Sindarin<br/>Ú-bedin lamel, pedin Sindarin - I don't speak your language, I speak atrocities, Sindarin<br/>Anin, henion. Ú-garin mae Sindarin. - Yes, I understand. I'm not good at Sindarin., Sindarin<br/>Cenin. Ú-thu. - I see. It doesn't matter, Sindarin.<br/>Mae le? - Are you well?, Sindarin<br/>Cuion, fern. Hannon le. Istodh laew o nestad. - I live, [this is] enough. I thank you. You know a lot about healing, Sindarin [Hannon is a film vocabulary and not used in Tolkien, but I don't know any other phrase for thanks].<br/>Naro ceridh men o len? Nodh man ah bâr?- Can you tell us more about yourself? Who are you and where do you come from? [Literally: What are you and where do you live?], Sindarin<br/>Im Legolas Thranduilion. Nostannen n'Eryn Galen. - I am Legolas, son of Thranduil. I was born in Mirkwood, Sindarin<br/>Suilon le, Legolas. Im Jack Cooper, mellon nín Eri O‘Kelly - Greetings, Legolas. I'm Jack Cooper, my friend [is] Ery O'Kelly. Do you recognize this place? Do you know this home? , Sindarin<br/>Mas non? - Where am I? [Remark: Mas I have found only in the internet with asterisks (=reconstructed) and all forms of to be are only reconstructed in my book]<br/>Ú-lastannen o Landen. - I have never heard of London, Sindarin<br/>Telin pedi lamel. - I want to speak your language, Sindarin</p><p>A few linguistic backgrounds for those interested in languages. I did not make a full contrastive comparison of the phonetics of Sindarin and English, if I am honest. I also don't think this would be necessary to reconstruct how Legolas would speak English (assuming he speaks the book standard of my Elvish book, which he doesn't even do, but speaks a dialect of Elvish that is not listed there, so it is actually Tawarwaithin and not Sindarin). So I looked at the IPA transcriptions of some English words and then the sound inventory of Sindarin (which by the way is quite noisy in comparison to German, there are only tense vowels and no marble vowels) and then I thought about how Legolas would substitute the sounds unknown to him with the sound inventory available to him.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. A distant time</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">
  <span>Eri had cancelled Mrs. Heatherton for the coming week until she thought of something to explain Legolas. In addition, she had half-heartedly tried to remove at least some of the traces of blood in her sofa on sunday with blood remover, but quickly gave it up. On monday she had organized a disposal company to take the sofa away. She told them something about a dog that had been poisoned by vicious neighbors and had died on her sofa, and she put a large sum of money on top of it so that the disposal men would believe her permanently. The next sofa became a leather sofa and should be delivered towards the end of the week.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Legolas had been given strict bed rest for the whole week by Jack. This didn't really seem to suit him, but he submitted to the doctor's verdict. Even though the doctor dropped the idea that he didn't believe that the elf really needed that much bed rest. Eri was fine with it, at least she didn't have him dancing around before her feet.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>She went to work that week as usual, which meant that she left the house early and often did not return until late in the evening. Jack, of course, was working as usual, too, but came over when his time allowed to check on Legolas. He also enjoyed the language classes immensely. Eri had made it easy for himself. She had simply given Legolas a few of her fairy tale books as well as her Elvish documents to keep him busy throughout the day. She had also bought him a notepad in which he could write down what he had learned. The book was full surprisingly fast.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Eri was a bit envious of him. Not only did he learn incredibly fast, but he also mastered his writing so wonderfully. Of course, he mastered the Tengwar with incredible elegance. Eri had also learned the writing once, but had always smeared it more than written - even if Jack thought that Tengwar simply could not be smeared. Jack was very eager to learn from Legolas, too, which obviously gave him pleasure. But Eri just couldn't get out of her skin to learn something new about the Elvish as well.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>It only took a week or so until Legolas had mastered enough English to have a reasonable conversation with him that went beyond a few general phrases. His recovery had also progressed far enough in that time that Jack felt he was now well enough advanced that he could at least walk around the house.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>The next saturday, the three of them gathered at the dinner table in the living room. Eri had ordered from the Japanese who had just delivered. Jack hadn't thought it was a good idea, but she felt that after last week's excitement she deserved it. Legolas, however, seemed somewhat irritated by the food on the table in front of him and didn't seem to be able to do anything with it.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"It's called sushi," she explained, "It's from Japan. And these are chopsticks. The Japanese call them </span>
  <span>
    <em>hashi</em>
  </span>
  <span>. You hold them like this, see? And this is how you eat with them."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>She caught a piece of sushi, dipped it in soy sauce and put it in her mouth. </span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>At some point during the last week, she had started to refrain from all the formal addresses. Calling him sir had seemed strange to her. She had asked Legolas to stop calling her that formally ("I'm not a lady!"), even though he had found it a little harder.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Legolas looked at the chopsticks critically and then took a skeptical look at the food. The way he held the chopsticks, it looked more like he wanted to stab someone with them. "Why don't you use a knife and fork?" he asked. He still had a strong accent, but people understood him.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Because the Japanese eat with chopsticks. That's more in proper style," said Eri.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Proper style?", Legolas repeated, irritated.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Eri sighed. "Oh, what the hell." She stood up and brought him a knife and fork.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"And what's that green thing there?", Legolas asked further.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Algae."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Algae?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Didn't I just say that?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"What's algae?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Plants from the sea," Jack interjected. "You can eat them. The green stuff around the sushi is also algae."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Legolas wrote something down in his book and then nodded. "I see." He didn't seem particularly willing to eat any of it, though he didn't say anything out of politeness.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Well, then there would be more for her and Jack, Eri said to himself and urged herself to be patient. She fished herself a fried shrimp.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Everything is very strange here," Legolas finally said. "There is much I do not yet understand."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"That's why we are sitting here now," Jack said. "Eri and I don't understand everything either. First of all, what has happened here at all."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Maybe we should start over," Eri interjected. "As we told you, Legolas, this is London. London is the capital of Great Britain. Great Britain is in Europe. Look, there." She pointed to the globe that was near the table.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Legolas was looking at the globe. "I don't know these countries," he said despondently.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Maybe I do," Jack now said. "There is a writer here called John Ronald Reuel Tolkien who wrote a great deal about your homeland, Middle-earth and Beleriand. Actually, we consider it fiction, made up. But Eri and I think that this might not be true after all. I mean, you're sitting here in front of us desperately trying to eat sushi."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Legolas elegantly passed over that point.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"This is what's going to be interesting for us: Tolkien once said that Middle-earth is an earlier stage of development in our world, so to speak, the past. History. The name Middle-earth was not chosen just like that. In Nordic mythology, the world of humans is called Midgard, which means Middle-earth and is simply the name of our world."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Legolas took another look at the globe. "After the fall of Númenor, all roads to the West became curved and only the elves knew the straight way. Then... is this the future?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Eri nodded. "Yes. Your future, at least. For us it is the present. Hmm, maybe the Tenth Age or something like that, I would guess, just by looking at it."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Restlessness came in Legolas. "There must be a way back for me. We must speak to this man."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Eri took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, but we can'! do that. Tolkien has been dead for over forty years."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Does he have any descendants?", Legolas kept pushing.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Christopher Tolkien, as far as I know, lives in some estate in France," Jack said. "But I have no idea where. But the man is already over ninety. And just showing up at his place, even if we could find out his address, I don't think it's a smart idea either. In the end, he'll get a stroke. But what about the Tolkien Society?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I would very much like to avoid media attention," Eri recalled. "For reasons."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"You and your reputation," snorted Jack.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Who's on the board of directors here, managing the stock investments of a damn international </span>
  <span>
    <em>bank</em>
  </span>
  <span>?" she snorted back.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Jack sighed. "All right, then. Let's ask differently. What's the last thing you can remember, Legolas?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"You seem to know a lot about my home, so I guess I don't have to explain much," he said. "I only returned from the War of the Ring a few weeks ago, but we still have problems with the orcs in the north. Unfortunately, our victory over Sauron did not result in the expulsion of all orcs, especially in the north. The last attack was particularly fierce, which we hadn't expected. That was a mistake. I was injured." He held his side. "The last thing I thought was that I was desperate for help and that none of this should happen now that Sauron was defeated. Then I must have lost consciousness. When I woke up, I was here." He turned directly to Eri. "I'm sorry about the sofa."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>She waved. "The guys seem to have bought the story about the dog dying."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Dog? No satanic rituals?", Jack teased, but fell silent when her cold look hit him.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"What are these rituals?" asked Legolas.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Not important", Eri waved away.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Satanists are people who worship the devil," Jack interjected. "They are said to bite the heads off live chicks and dance at night in cemeteries and stuff."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Legolas gave Eri a horrified look. "You do something like that?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"What? No!" she exclaimed emphatically. "Jack is bullshitting again and told me a few days ago to tell the disposal people, so they don't think I stabbed anyone else here."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I see." Legolas seemed relieved, but still confused.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Jack laughed inside himself. "Mischief managed," he giggled.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>She sighed and took another piece of sushi. Legolas had still not touched any of it.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Well, at least we have an approach," Jack returned to their real subject. "I only have book knowledge, but perhaps you have an idea if there's a connection between your injury and your showing up here, Legolas."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>The latter just shrugged his shoulders at a loss. "Perhaps a wise person like Lord Elrond would know, but I don't," he said dejectedly. "But there must be a reason, I am convinced of it. Perhaps ... but no. I have never heard of anyone travelling through time just because he wishes for something special."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"What do you mean?" Eri asked.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"As I said, one of my last thoughts was that I longed for help," Legolas said. "And now here I am."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"You mean that you were somehow ported here because you find help here?" she elaborated. "The raven from Eragon would now say </span>
  <span>
    <em>Wyrda</em>
  </span>
  <span>, heavy with meaning."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"What is ported?" Legolas asked.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"That means you were brought here through some kind of portal or door," she explained.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I see. Well, at least that would be an explanation," he said. "</span>
  <span>
    <em>Any one</em>
  </span>
  <span>, at least. Maybe not the most likely, maybe not even a real one. But one."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>She felt sorry for him. He sat there so lost at the table, the untouched sushi in front of him, and looked so completely out of place. Even if you didn't know who he was, you could see that he just didn't belong here. This was not his world, not his time. Eri was on fire at that moment to help him get back to his time.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Something just occurred to me," Jack interjected. "Eri, you are Irish."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"No, I only have Irish ancestors who immigrated at some point," she corrected.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Never mind," he weakened. "Anyway, that's the thing about the Irish, with their elves and leprechauns and stuff."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"You mean like the dead wife guy from American Gods?" she asked.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Yes, and don't you spoiler me, I haven't watched the last episode yet," Jack threatened. "Well, anyway, maybe we can find something there."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"The last episode wasn't a big hit, I'm used to better season finales from Game of Throne," said Eri. "But Irish fairy tales and sagas are just that: fairy tales and sagas. I don't think that's going to work."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I think it will," Jack objected. "In every legend there is a spark of truth, as they say. As far as I know, Tolkien got a part of his inspiration from that. And we're sitting here eating sushi with Legolas. Okay, we eat and he watches. Are you sure you don't want to try it? This stuff is so good!"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Legolas hemmed and hawed with embarrassment. "Well... All right." Carefully, he skewered a sushi roll with his fork and dipped it into soy sauce like Eri. Then he shoved it into his mouth and chewed it skeptically. With apparently some choking he finally swallowed.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"And?", Eri asked.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Is that raw fish in there?" Legolas asked.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Yes. Pacific salmon, I think," she said. "There are some with avocado and cucumber, if you prefer."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>She would not have been surprised if the elf had turned green on his face.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I should have ordered pizza," she finally said.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"What is pizza?" Legolas asked immediately.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"A round dough base on which all sorts of things are placed. Tomatoes, bacon (especially bacon), corn, and so on," she explained, "The Italians invented it and have the better topping, but the Americans make the better dough."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Well, I like it American through and through," Jack interjected. "But anyway... Sushi's good too."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Legolas dared to shake his head.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Too bad," Eri said. "You're clearly missing out on some international culinary delights."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Thanks, but ... raw fish is not quite what I had in mind for a meal," Legolas said.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Then at least try the one with avocado and cucumber," she advised him.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Those were clearly not Legolas' cup of tea either. "Shouldn't we rather talk about these... Irish fairy tales?", he distracted her. "But, Eri, you already gave me a book like that to read a few days ago. It seemed more like stories for children. Does that help us?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Legolas, fairy tales have only recently been degraded to children's stories," Eri emphasized slightly disgruntled. "Admittedly, the Grimm Brothers have a certain amount of complicity in this, but still! Originally, fairy tales were not just a trivial bedtime story for children who did not want to sleep!"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"She collects fairy tales from all over the world and is a great fan of fairy tales," Jack interjected in explanation. </span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Fairy tales are totally underestimated!", said Eri. </span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"So not only reading Tolkien these days, but also fairy tales?", Jack summarized.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Exactly."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I would like to learn more about this world... time," Legolas asked. "Perhaps I will learn something that way, too."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I have a book that gives a good overview of the last millennia and our understanding of the world," said Eri. "Although perhaps you should first get to know your immediate surroundings. Light switches are not magic and not witchcraft. Say, Jack, you're the doctor, can we go shopping next saturday already?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"First being impaled by an orc and then shopping in the City of London two weeks later, hmm ...", he said. "On the other hand, the wound healing looks good and the stitches will soon no longer be needed. If you don't want to run a marathon right away, there's not much reason not to. Are you still in pain, Legolas?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>The latter shook his head. "No, hardly," he said. "The future seems to hold some miracles for healers as well. Frankly, I think even Lord Elrond could learn something."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"You might say that," said Jack. "Hey, I mean, heart transplants are now possible. Difficult, but possible. Have you ever seen a living, beating heart? Like in Pirates of the Caribbean, only cooler and more real."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Jack, we're eating, it's disgusting!" Eri complained. "Not everyone has a morbid fascination with cut-up things like you."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Legolas abstained from commenting and seemed to oscillate between disgust and fascination.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>For the rest of the evening they limited themselves to more trivial things. Eri explained to Legolas all the things of a normal household, from the coffee machine ("One of the greatest inventions of the 20th century.") to the refrigerator and the television. Legolas showed great interest and almost childlike astonishment at all these things, and seemed genuinely eager to understand them. However, Eri did not believe that he really succeeded. At least he didn't get the idea to press any buttons wildly. In fact, he was careful not to touch anything that seemed strange to him.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Eventually, Eri realized one thing: She knew things about Legolas' future that he probably didn't want to know. She knew when Aragorn would die, and she also knew what happened to Gimli. </span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Legolas, one request I have," she said. "Do not read my Lord of the Rings issues. Or at least not the appendices."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Oh, well, or... you say okay," he said.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Yes, let's say so," she said. "And, well, there are a few things in there about how you feel about the near future. I don't think that's so good, if you know what I mean. Time travel always brings up this weird time paradox."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I don't know what you mean by time paradox, but I think I know what you want to express and I agree with you," he said.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"The Lord of the Rings film trilogy by Peter Jackson has made film history - and not without good reason, I think the Hobbit film trilogy really can't compete with that."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"But it has a tremendous sense of humor," Jack threw in from the background. "Involuntary, but whatever."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"What is film?" asked Legolas.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Do you have theaters in Middle-earth?" Eri asked.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I don't know this word," Legolas confessed.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Theater is when people dress up, pretend to be someone else, and re-enact a story," she explained to him.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Ah! Yes, of course. Why not?", Legolas wanted to know.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Tolkien never mentioned it anywhere, as far as I know," she said. "Well, anyway, film is something like that. Only you don't see the actors in real life, but in moving pictures. When you go to the cinema to see a film, it's like going to the theater. You can watch movies on the TV at home."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>He thought for a moment, then nodded. "I think I understand what you mean, even though I can't imagine anything about moving pictures."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"We'll put that on our to-do list for the next few days to watch the movies," she said.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>The elf had to smile mischievously. "To be honest, I am curious to know how people imagine my home after such a long time," he said.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Okay, in that case I really suggest we start with Lord of the Rings," Jack threw in again. "The Hobbit movies really wouldn't make a good impression. But Smaug and Sauron are really cool, you have to admit that to the movies. And Andy Serkis as Gollum!"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"What's Covfefe, preciousss?", Eri said.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Both Jack and Eri had to laugh heartily because of the allusion to the late night show with Stephen Colbert. Legolas just stood there confused, but refrained from asking a question.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Well, not today anyway," Jack finally said. "It's getting late and I want to go home again. Just don't explain to Legolas on YouTube. At the end he finds cute kitty videos and then everything is lost and his soul is sold to evil forever. I'll see you around."</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. To conquer London</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">
  <span>Eri woke up the next morning, a sunday, with music in her ear. She was used to the sounds of the big city at night, so she usually slept with the window open, as long as there were no sub-zero temperatures outside. She blinked sleepily and realized with a glance at her clock radio that it was not even eight. She buzzed unwillingly, turned around and pulled the blanket over her ears. Only then did she pay closer attention to the music - the singing, how she corrected herself - and paused.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>It was a hymn to Elbereth.</span>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <span>
    <em>A Elbereth Gilthoniel,</em>
  </span>
</p><p class="western">
  <em>silivren penna míriel</em>
</p><p class="western">
  <em>o menel aglar elenath!</em>
</p><p class="western">
  <em>Na-chaered palan-díriel</em>
</p><p class="western">
  <em>O galadhremmin ennorath,</em>
</p><p class="western">
  <em>Fanuilos, le linnathon</em>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>
    <em>Nef aear, nef aearon!</em>
  </span>
  <span>*</span>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <span>She should really have the alarm system checked, it went through Eri's mind. She was sure that she had closed the patio door last night. However, Legolas had apparently opened it to go into the garden and had not set off the alarm. The thing was definitely broken.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>She got up, threw on her morning coat and went downstairs. In fact, she found Legolas in her garden behind the house and was once again glad that she had made sure that the garden was protected from the curious neighbors. The elf stood under one of the trees and seemed to be listening to something above him. A sparrow had sat down on his stretched finger and looked at him curiously. She raised an eyebrow inquiringly. London sparrows were very trusting of wild animals, even if they were followers of culture. But she had never seen one so trusting before.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Suddenly, she felt as if she was seeing Legolas for the first time. The sun had not risen for long and still cast long shadows. Its light got caught in his hair and made it shimmer like flax spun with gold. He seemed so peaceful as he stood there under the tree, listening to the soft rustling of the leaves and chirping with the birds. When he noticed her, he turned to her and smiled. Eri was sure that he had never seen anything more beautiful than that smile.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Oh my goodness, now calm down," she murmured to herself.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>And all of a sudden she felt very sorry for him. More than ever, it was made clear to her that he simply didn't belong here. He seemed so completely out of place, a small torn out fragment of a picture that had been set down by the wind on a completely different picture and now couldn't find his way back. And he didn't really want to fit into the new picture either. Eri vowed to pull out all the stops to help him in his search for the way back</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Did I wake you up?" Legolas asked and approached her. The sparrow flew into a nearby bush. "If so, I'm sorry."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"It's okay," she waved. "Even Bilbo knew to say: </span>
  <span>Elvisch singing is not a thing to miss, in June under the stars, not if you care for such things.</span>
  <span>** Well, except that this is London and not Imladris, and it's september and not june and it's early morning, too. And my alarm system is broken." Sometimes she hated herself for always having to be so profane. It wasn't every day you had a beautiful singing elf in your garden!</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"This is the first time I've seen you in less strict clothing," Legolas said.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"How you are dressed is very important nowadays," she explained, "especially for people who have something to show. I, for example, have to show that I play an important role at work and hold a high post."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"What is your work?" he wanted to know. "Something about money, but that's all I understood."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"In simple terms, I sit on the board of directors of Saunders Bank and manage the bank's stock market operations there. I also have a few shares of stock on the exchange myself." But then she beckoned. "But you know what, never mind. Business is hard enough to explain to people who don't come from a fictional past and who are not even native speakers of English. And certainly not before breakfast."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"So not everyone has a house like you?" he wanted to know.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"The world wouldn't be big enough for that," she said.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Really? But it is so huge," he wondered.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"With a world population of seven billion people, the world is already too small."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"That ... that's a number I can't imagine," he hesitantly admitted.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Believe me, neither can I."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>They went back inside and had breakfast, a good English Breakfast with egg, bacon and baked white beans, which Eri treated herself to far too rarely. Once again, it didn't really seem to hit Legolas' taste buds, but he seemed to like Earl Grey.</span>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <span>The following week they read a lot, both Legolas and Eri and Jack. While the two of them were at work, Eri had left the Oxford English Dictionary to Legolas so that he could look up words unknown to him when she was not present; she did not want to leave her tablet for him to write to and ask her. Who knew what he would do with it by mistake ... At the end of the week she felt that he had learned the book by heart. At least his vocabulary had improved rapidly.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"How do you actually do that, that you learn so quickly?" she asked him once in amazement.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Well, for one thing, we elves are very interested in language and therefore have a certain talent for it," he explained. "That's why I also suggested that you teach me your language when I noticed that you only knew a few chunks of Sindarin and that Jack's ability is also limited to the little bit in your books. It just seemed more practical that way. And on the other hand, at the moment I wish for nothing more than to come back home. Don't get me wrong, I am very grateful for your patience and help, Eri, but ... well. To learn as much as possible about this foreign time seems to me to be the only possibility."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>He let his shoulders droop. Following an impulse, she first put a hand on his arm to comfort him and then pressed him briefly. Even though it probably looked a little grotesque, since Legolas, like most elves, had grown tall and clearly towered over her. Nevertheless he gratefully returned the hug.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>But then Eri cleared her throat embarrassed and released the hug again. Actually she never became so physical …</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Tell me, how old are you?" she asked as a distraction. "The film version says 2931, but that is only an allusion to Aragorn's year of birth and is not documented by Tolkien.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Hmm, let me see," he said. "The age measured in years of the sun does not play a big role for us. One year is like another, lined up a hundred times, even a thousand times like pearls on a string. Their number is not important. But a person in my country would probably call about six thousand years of the sun."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Holy shit, six thousand!" she exclaimed. "I guess we must seem pretty stupid to you, and like children."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"No, no, no way," he hastened to say. "Rather, it is I who feel like a child here. I don't understand many of the things that are here, and at the same time I admire the people of this time for their incredible ingenuity. The coming ages of Middle-earth are truly the ages of mankind, now nothing makes me doubt that."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Sometimes this frightens me myself," Eri confessed. "The technical progress in the last decades has been gigantic."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Of course, during the time he was staying with Eri, Legolas had also watched the hustle and bustle on the streets from his house - and in the sky, as he had once confessed to Eri in a very upset state. He had thought the helicopter, which flew over the house, while Eri had been at work, must have been a dragon, and that cars would not eat him as soon as they discovered him in the house, he had not really believed at first. So she took him to his garage and showed him her Bentley - she had embezzled the fact that she was driving a used car, although she hadn't expected him to make any comment anyway, of course, that she was driving a Bentley of all things. It could hardly have been more British, Jack had joked once when she had bought the car.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"This strange time knows some devilish things," Legolas noted. "I thought only the evil spirit of Sauron could remember such things."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Bullshit. Cars are great," Eri objected. "And planes and trains and ships. So not those with sails as you know them, but with engines like cars that make them go much faster. It was through such things that globalization was possible in the first place.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Legolas thought about this for quite a while. Finally he said: "I don't know if the constant availability of all kinds of things is so good."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Hm, maybe you're right," she admitted after a short hesitation. "But I still wouldn't want to miss it. Such a heated pool in the basement, when it's snowing and stormy outside, is a great thing."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Eri did not believe that Legolas could just sit in her house and garden all the time until they found a way to get him back to Middle-earth. That meant he would probably have to go on the road as well. Unfortunately, Jack's clothes were a bit too small for him, and his own clothes, even if Eri had had them washed and sewn by now, would attract a bit of attention in London, too. Although less than the Night King and his henchmen at the season opener of the last Game of Thrones season, as she thought. And that in turn meant that they would go shopping. Against his will, she had also enlisted Jack, since he was a much better advisor than she was when it came to menswear.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I could at least dress Legolas for a business meeting," joked Eri.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Jack didn't really feel like going shopping, but he agreed. "After all, we want to save you from Eri's flowered nightgowns, don't we, Legolas?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>The elf turned red and said nothing. Obviously, he was too embarrassed about it.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Eri only hoped that she had at least somewhat eased the fear of modern means of transportation for her new elvish friend, because by now she somehow looked at Legolas as such, since the best way to get through the center of London was still the subway and without claustrophobia. Of course Legolas was afraid of it, she was sure of that, he just didn't show it. Perhaps he was embarrassed to admit in front of people that even an oh so strong elven warrior could be afraid - worst of all of things that humans had invented. But she could also not admit to herself her fear of various things, and they were often more profane than such things.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Legolas let it be known that he did not think that a round of shopping through London's upscale stores was a good idea, and he preferred to continue reading in Eri's library. She, however, insisted on it, if only because she was once again in the mood for unbiased shopping. Legolas had found it very difficult to understand the concept of shopping at all, and when he finally understood it, he had not been convinced.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Her first destination was Regent Street. Legolas had noticed that Eri was in the upper price range, so he had suggested, if at all, that he should look for clothes for the average earners, so as not to attract attention. Eri was reluctant to go to stores that were seen to be producing cheaply in Asia, so Regent Street had made a good compromise.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"But we still have to go to Harrods. For me," she insisted. Somehow, she had got a hold of Harrods.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Harrods is really out of my league," Jack remarked.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"You really should go into the stock market, you can make good money there," she advised him not for the first time.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Yeah, if you know what you're doing," he objected. More quietly, he turned to Legolas: "Harrods is such a snazzy place for the very fine folks, you know. The ones with their noses in the clouds."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Eri pretended not to hear.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Regent Street was only a short walk from her house. It was the first time for Legolas to leave her house and experience the streets of London from the outside. Eri had asked him not to gape too obviously, but he didn't succeed particularly well. It was a different thing to experience the strange streets of a completely strange time at first hand, instead of watching the people outside from the window. Certainly, a thousand questions were burning on his tongue, and Eri prepared herself for an interrogation as soon as they returned home.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Legolas wore his own clothes. Jack had offered him some of his own, but Eri felt that clothes that were obviously three sizes too small would probably attract as little attention in London of all places as a supposedly well made cosplay, which of course looked so amazingly real because it was real. Most people ignore them anyway and most of the rest probably just came from a hipster who had a medieval tic. You've had to bring in guns like HBO with the White Walkers, it went through Eri's head once again.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Oh, of course, some people wanted to stop and look, and Eri was quite happy that she was able to explain the concept of photography to Legolas in advance and that he was actually quite flattered by something like this now. So vanity was also one of his traits, she noted, a little bit anyway. Some passers-by also asked about the cosplay, and they made the joke of simply answering with the truth. Legolas visibly enjoyed impressing some of the more accomplished connoisseurs of the fandom with his knowledge of Sindarin, even though Eri advised him not to overdo it. For everyone else they had agreed on Mike. For some reason, the name Legolas had appealed, and they had decided to call him that in public.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Their cautious approach to life in the 21st century was far from complete, but apparently sufficient that Legolas did not suffer a complete culture shock. The noise and bustle of London, the metropolis of millions, obviously worried him, but there were one or two things that seemed to please him. Not only did people compliment him on his excellent cosplay. </span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>He was particularly interested in some things, above all the artistic culture they cherished. Eri listened to mainly classical music at home, preferring Beethoven. However, to give him a different impression, she had played various metal bands in her home. Another thing she never told her colleagues was that she was passionate about going to metal concerts and loved listening to this music. However, after listening to enough classical music in the past two weeks (and giving the artists some credit, which for an elf meant a lot, as he emphasized), she thought it would be a good idea to offer him some variety.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>As expected, he hadn't gotten much out of metal, but to Eri's horror, the song I See Fire by Ed Sheeran, which was playing one morning when, following an inspiration, she had put on the soundtrack of the second Hobbit movie. Legolas was completely blown away, and she declared his taste in music completely lost.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>They had been strolling around Regent Street for some time now and had already been touring some stores.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I thought again about why I'm here," Legolas said. "As I said a week ago, I think there must be a reason, and the longer I think about it, the more I am convinced that there must be."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"</span>
  <span>
    <em>Wyrda</em>
  </span>
  <span>," Eri said meaningful. "I don't believe in fate's folly, but please enlighten us."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Well, my last thought was a desire for help. I don't think it was a coincidence that I woke up here after that," said the elf.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"And what should this help look like that you are supposed to find in your distant future of all places," Jack asked.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I don't know," Legolas confessed. "But your healing arts..."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Medicine, please," Jack corrected.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"So your medicine spends true miracles, things I never dreamed were possible," Legolas said. "And you never talk about weapons, but when Eri watches the news in the evening, then..."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"No! No-no-no-no! This is going in a completely wrong direction," she interrupted him immediately. "I can't imagine that anyone had that in mind. If you peeped over my shoulder while watching the news, you saw what these weapons do. I just </span>
  <span>
    <em>don't want</em>
  </span>
  <span> to believe that something like this can be good for your time. All right, I don't know what the antibiotics are for right off the bat, but, you know. Just the question of how to get such weapons! They belong to the military and the government. And... no. It just can't be."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Jack seemed to have more of a sense of humor about the whole thing, because he suddenly burst out laughing and spluttering.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"What's so funny?" Legolas demanded to know and sounded a bit offended.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I'm just imagining a group of elves with a Leopard breaking through the bushes and rolling over several orcs," laughed Jack. "The image in my head is just too good!"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Eri couldn't help thinking that he was right about that. It was strange.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"No, Eri is right. Not a good idea. The mere fact that you can't just get at it," Jack said. "As far as medicine goes..."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"And what if these things just happened," Eri interjected. "Just because things happen without a reason?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"That would not be a very encouraging thought," Legolas said. "But maybe you are right..."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Man, now don't sound as if the world is about to end," Eri tried to comfort him. "Let's find some more clothes for you."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Eri guided her two men to the next store, a shoe store. Unisone's moans followed her. She headed for the men's department and told Legolas and Jack to go for it.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"The fashion taste of the time is very strange," Legolas commented, not for the first time that day. "I noticed that already with all the people on the street. It's so ... permissive. But very varied."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"And you have a fad for green and brown things," Eri noted, looking at their shopping so far. "And leather. The leather pants look like shit, but I couldn't talk you out of them."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Does it surprise you? I'm a wood elf," Legolas said only dry and with a raised eyebrow.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"You could think outside the box for once," she suggested.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Legolas had meanwhile looked around with little interest. Now, however, he seemed to have something in mind that he liked. He went off and came back with a pair of ladies' boots (leather, of course). Now it was up to Eri to raise an eyebrow.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"This is what women wear," she said.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"But I find them elegant," he said.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"And I think that looks too feminine on you," she countered. "Jack, give me a hand and do shoe advice.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Why me?" protested the man. "I just don't know anything about it. I usually wear sneakers to work anyway."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>A salesman saved her life. "Sir, can I help you?" he turned to Legolas. </span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I'm looking for some shoes," he said the obvious. "They should be sturdy, but also elegant. I prefer leather, brown."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Eri rolled her eyes at the background. She had not known that elves were so picky and demanding when it came to their clothing.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>The salesman nodded heavily, as if he had the full view of what Legolas was asking of him, and then went off in one direction less determined than he probably wanted.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Or it was because Legolas was a spoiled prince, Eri continued to tease in her thoughts. But no, that was unfair to him, she admonished herself. Legolas had never let the spoiled prince hang out in the little more than two weeks she knew him. In fact, he had mentioned only in passing that his father was a king and that he had no small say in the affairs of state.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Was it really only two weeks? It seemed much longer to her. Normally she never made friends with someone so quickly.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Signs and wonders were still happening, but the salesman actually found a pair of shoes that Legolas liked and that were not in the ladies' department. Legolas didn't quite understand how the gender segregation of clothing took place.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Here, women also wear pants," he said when they left the store. "It's... not right and confuses me."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"It's called emancipation," she said. "Women can wear pants, it's no problem."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I see." He didn't seem convinced.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>At the end of Regent Street, they had put together what Eri called a green and brown biker outfit for Legolas.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"All that was missing was a Harley," she said, imagining the whole thing figuratively. "It would look pretty hot..."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Jack grinned. "So that's where the wind blows from."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Bullshit, let's just drop it," she choked him. "On to Harrods. I've earned that right now. I didn't know shopping with elves would be so tiring."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"As I said, the fashionable tastes of this age are very strange," Legolas said in his defense. "I find it difficult to find anything I like here. And of most of them you also say that I can't wear it, and I usually don't even understand it."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Now draw another pout and you really sound like a baby," Eri teased. "You see, like this." She overdid it and patted his cheek while doing so. At least Legolas had to laugh about it, too.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"But please don't think I am ungrateful," he said. " Quite the opposite! I just don't know how I can repay you for your help. Without your help, I would probably be hopelessly lost. How do you show your gratitude to someone here?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Well, you could invite someone for dinner," said Jack. "The only problem with that is that you don't have any money of your own. At least nothing to pay with in this country."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Legolas could still invite us to dinner," Eri said. "Only that we'll pay and sweep this detail under the table."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Legolas laughed softly. "It seems a bit pulled by the hair, but I'd love to," he said.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"If you want to go out to dinner tomorrow, you can do so without me, I'm on duty tomorrow," Jack said.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"And in that case we should look for a suit for Legolas, too," Eri said. "Good thing we're going to Harrods right now anyway. I had Ledbury in mind."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Always bring out the big guns, tsk, tsk, tsk," Jack said.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"They have the best food in town," Eri reminded him. "And I don't want to go to the nearest fish and chips stand on the side of the road, although everyone says it's so British."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Legolas had apparently decided to just let it go.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>In the meantime they had reached the London Underground station at Piccadilly Circus. Legolas seemed to be a bit uneasy about all this and followed them with uncertain steps into the underground.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"You've walked the paths of the dead, you must be able to ride the subway a few stations," Eri reminded him.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"That was different," he defended himself.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Sure? I find the idea of some old tunnel full of dead ghosts much scarier than a brightly lit underground station," she said.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Apparently he didn't want to be exposed like that and now he pulled himself together.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Eri bought a ticket for all three and they boarded the next train to Knightsbridge Station. It was Saturday afternoon and there were a lot of people on the way. The train was full, even by London standards, and they did not get seats. Legolas and Jack were big enough to hold on to the ceiling handles. Since Eri could not reach there, she held on to Jack's arm without further ado.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"So many people," Legolas noted with astonishment.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"It's London, of course," Jack said. "At present, about eight and a half million people live in the city and in the metropolis, about thirteen thousand six hundred people. If you add the surrounding area, even more. They all want to live somewhere and come from somewhere."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Legolas just shook his head in disbelief. "I just can't imagine that."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>He was visibly glad when they reached Knightsbridge and left the London Underground again. It was not far from here to Harrods. The building attracted attention from afar.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"This is a real fancy place where only the rich snotty people go," Jack teased. "All right, and tourists who want to feel fabulous."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"This is a really strange town," said Legolas. "I expected to stand out. Instead, no one seems to care. I have never seen such a variety. Stand out like ... you know a comparison?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Stand out like a sore thumb," said Jack."The world is big, there are many cultures, nations and ethnicities," Eri just said. "And now I want to go shopping."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I warn you, Legolas, we were mainly taken to haul bags," said Jack with a sorrowful groan.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Eri loved to try on all kinds of tops, pants, dresses and skirts. She rarely bought anything, but she enjoyed trying out different styles and seeing how she looked in them. Clothes were very important to her to show who she was. Jack and Legolas usually just stood there a little lost and said yes and amen to everything.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Kashmir is wonderful," she enthused not for the first time when she found a particularly soft sweater. "The color is just ... not very good," she said.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Ugly," muttered Jack, but deliberately loud enough for Eri to hear it too. "I know why I never buy anything here."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Because you have no sense for designer fashion," she objected. "Not everyone can wear Valentino or Gucci. Although, admittedly, Gucci is not my favorite designer brand. Too flashy."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Legolas remained elegantly in the background and abstained from commenting.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Our new friend and I could go to the men's department and look for a matching suit," suggested Jack.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"No no, out of the question," Eri objected. "The suit must match my evening dress, that's for sure. If necessary, I'll have to buy a new dress, too. And not to forget the shoes. And the tie - or the bow tie."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Legolas seemed completely overwhelmed.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Jack sighed. "Buying a suit is always a horror story. I hate it."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Oh, bullshit. Men in suits look so sexy," purred Eri and winked meaningful. "It's worth it."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Legolas shrugged his shoulders. "That's probably something I will never understand," he said, which Eri took as a free ride. </span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>They spent a good two hours at Harrods and Eri understood perfectly how to chase the two men all over the building in search of suitable evening wear. In the end she left a good eight thousand pounds at the cash register. </span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Jack swallowed when they had left Harrods again.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I'm never going shopping with you again, Eri," he said. "In the first place, you are a torturer, and in the second place, that was </span>
  <span>
    <em>way too much</em>
  </span>
  <span> money for a bit of cloth."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"For really good-looking fabric, though," she replied, "You don't just pay for the material and the processing costs here. You pay for being somebody. You know what I mean?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"No," Jack said openly. "One of the suits we saw on Regent Street earlier would have done the same."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I always thought father makes an unnecessarily big fuss about official occasions," Legolas said. "He is in comparison to this," he made an indefinite gesture towards Harrods, "harmless. Well, apart from his quirk about his crown..."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Eri, who was in a very relaxed mood after her successful shopping, was very attentive. "Get out, what do you mean?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Of course he has a crown for every season," Legolas explained. "And then it must also suit the occasion and refer to it. Not forgetting his time when he felt that his crown must reflect his mood."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Eri could not help but grin. "That sounds really weird," she commented.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I think Thranduil would get along well with our Queen," Jack said. "She hasn't worn the same hat twice in all her years as queen, as far as I know."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Oh yes, that sounds like father." Legolas grinned cheekily. "If he knew what I was saying about him, he'd tear my head off."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Meanwhile, they had turned back towards Knightsbridge to make their way home. Legolas seemed a little reluctant.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Can we go another way?" he asked. "I didn't feel much like being cooped up in that underground carriage without horses."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Actually, we would have taken a bus now," Eri said.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Well, let's see what Google Maps says," Jack threw in and pulled out his smartphone.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>While he was typing on the screen, Legolas watched him. "This is magic," he said.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"No," contradicted Jack, "definitely not. Just the invention of a very clever head, who unfortunately died of cancer. Steve Jobs did quite a bit with that one, though. You know, the 21st century is called the age of information. All information is available at any time, which is very practical."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Although this constant availability sometimes gets on my nerves," said Eri. "All the time you have in the back of your mind is that work can call and tell you that they have messed up business and need your help </span>
  <span>
    <em>right now</em>
  </span>
  <span>, or the world will end."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"For doctors, however, that's not unimportant," Jack said to consider. "But look, Google says there's a nice path through Hyde Park. That sounds good, doesn't it? It'll take us half an hour if we stroll leisurely."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Eri would prefer to take public transportation, since she was gradually becoming footloose. But Legolas made it clear that he would rather take the footpath, and Jack also said that there was not much to object to. So she surrendered.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Nevertheless, she considered this day a complete success. Legolas had appropriate clothing, she had a new dress, and the elf had finally sniffed some real big city air without falling out of his socks completely. That was something!</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>*The Lord of the Rings, Book II, Chapter I – Tolkien<br/>**The Hobbit, Chapter 3 – Tolkien</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. The silent people</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">
  <span>When they were back home with Eri, Legolas suggested that he could cook for them. The suggestion of inviting them to dinner still seemed to bother him and apparently he thought it was a good alternative.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"You can cook?" Eri asked in surprise. "Honestly, I didn't expect that."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"At home in the palace, the cooks will take care of that," he said. "But somehow you have to survive in the wilderness, don't you?" He winked impishly. "But you should have experienced the cooking skills of Perhael. Hm, maybe his name is different here. Banazîr?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Who?" she asked in surprise.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"He means Sam," Jack said. "We call him Samwise Gamgee. And I'm sure he cooks like a master."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Well, we can also order from the delivery service," said Eri, who was not quite comfortable with the idea of letting Legolas into her kitchen. After all, he didn't know how to handle all the equipment …</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"You always order from the delivery service," Jack said. "Well, I wouldn't mind being convinced by Legolas' cooking."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>The elf was beaming, and Eri was outvoted. In the end, however, she had to admit that what Legolas had put together with the little she had in the house tasted surprisingly good. And her kitchen was not burnt down either.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I tried to put together something that we would eat at Eryn Lasgalen," Legolas explained later during dinner. "The main ingredient of our meals, however, are mushrooms."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Which you will unfortunately search in vain in this household, because I hate mushrooms," Eri replied.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Man, it's totally delicious," said Jack with a full mouth and pointed to his plate with his fork.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I'm glad," Legolas replied. "I notice again and again that many are amazed by the menu of the wood elves, which frankly amazes me. We live in a forest where we cannot do much farming. So we usually eat what the forest provides, and especially bakery and pasture products are mostly imported goods and therefore quite expensive. Our diet consists mostly of roots, forest fruits and game. The latter tastes especially delicious if you have hunted it yourself. I love the royal hunts!"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Really with french horns and hunting dogs and a great looking hunting party?", Eri wanted to know. "That's what I imagine to be really great."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I have never thought about the economy of a forest kingdom," Jack noted. "But that sounds really sensible. Why doesn't anyone write about such cool details?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Gimli once told me that his father was amazed at why our prisoners were eating so well; they were given roots and dried fruit, while elsewhere only water and dried bread was served. But with us, as you would say, it is poor people food," Legolas explained.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"So it's just a fantasy cliché that forest elves are all strict vegetarians and don't kill animals," Eri concluded.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Personally, I love a juicy roast venison, best if I shoot the deer myself beforehand," Legolas said. "There is nothing better in the world! Unless the stag is served with wild mushrooms."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"My tooth is dripping," commented Jack. "If we didn't eat already, I would get very hungry."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>After dinner, they cleared the table and did the dishes together. Legolas had been absolutely thrilled by the invention of the refrigerator and the dishwasher and, after Eri had explained it to him, had wanted to talk about nothing else for days. The elf hummed a soft melody to himself, something he was very fond of doing, as Eri had noticed, and finally sang the lyrics to it:</span>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <em>Now I see fire</em>
</p><p class="western">
  <em>Inside the mountain</em>
</p><p class="western">
  <em>I see fire</em>
</p><p class="western">
  <em>Burning the trees</em>
</p><p class="western">
  <em>And I see fire</em>
</p><p class="western">
  <em>Hollowing souls</em>
</p><p class="western">
  <em>I see fire</em>
</p><p class="western">
  <em>Blood in the breeze</em>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>
    <em>And I hope that you remember me</em>
  </span>
  <span>*</span>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <span>"Legolas, please, leave it," Eri intervened. "Or I'll fire up Arch Enemy." He was particularly reluctant to listen to Death Metal.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Do you think I can't sing well?" he asked startled.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"No, you can sing really well. I just hate Ed Sheeran's songs and think it's bad manners that someone like that was allowed to sing an end song in a Tolkien film adaptation."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Remember the cameo in Game of Thrones," Jack interjected. "I'm surprised Arya didn't assassinate his character."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I like the music of that Ed Sheeran," Legolas said, obviously relieved that Eri did not doubt his musical ability after all.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Ugh!", Eri groaned.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Honestly, I'm not surprised," said Jack. "Ed Sheeran and his band are the modern bards. You can think what you like about music, but that's a good point. But we shouldn't waste any time, we actually wanted to collect the research results of the week today."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I'll get the wine from the cellar," Eri said. "Red or white?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Red please," said Legolas, and Jack agreed.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Wine was something that was excellent for baiting Legolas. Wine and peanut flips. Why the latter, Eri did not know, but the wine did not surprise her. She had somehow always assumed that the royal family of Mirkwood in particular had a pronounced obsession with wine, and that was indeed the case. Legolas said that his father was even worse and spared no expense or effort to import the most expensive wine from Dorwinion, which, Legolas said, was a logistical challenge. But it is the best wine he knows.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Once again they sat down at the dining table and spread out what they had collected during the week. Eri piled up a few books and Jack opened his notebook.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"So: I have found stories about the silent people in various Grimm works, as elves are sometimes called," Eri said. </span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Why Grimm? They collected German fairy tales, but I thought we wanted to look for Irish ones?" said Jack.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"There are no German fairy tales, only those collected in Germany," Eri lectured. "That applies to all fairy tales in the world. Why else do we have Cinderella and the Germans Aschenputtel? The material can be found in many nations, regardless of culture. Only the details vary. So they travel through a desert instead of a forest."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"We don't want a university seminar," Jack interrupted her. "But tell me, what have you found?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Well, as I said, they are also called the silent people, because they don't like the noise of human settlements and live in fields and meadows and forests. They can take different forms, you've heard of Banshie, Phuka, and Cluricaun," Eri summed up the main thing. "I became clairaudient at the mention of a land of youth, Thierna na oge."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Indeed, that doesn't sound entirely unfamiliar to me," Legolas agreed.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"This land lies under water," Eri continued, "and is called the underworld. </span>
  <span>Fairies</span>
  <span> are generally associated with the devil and are referred to as angels of light cast out of heaven, fearful of being banished to hell at the Last Judgment."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"The Devil?" Legolas frowned. "You have explained that he is to be compared to the first Dark Lord. I don't think this is going to get us anywhere."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Well, wait, it's not that simple," Jack said. "Tolkien was an arch-conservative Catholic with a funny sense of humor, and that's reflected in his works. Morgoth and the devil have very obvious parallels, that's true, but I personally have always felt Morgoth to be a much worse threat than the devil in the Bible. Admittedly, I think Lucifer in John Milton's Paradise Lost is a very interesting figure, and not just drawn in black. And at that time!"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Exactly, and the Grimm fairy tales are always called folk tales, but strictly speaking they are not, and one would have to speak correctly of book tales," Eri began. "If you look a little at the history of the editions of their collections, you can see that some of them underwent major changes, which is not always more in the spirit of a folk tale. Accordingly, Christian values and norms were incorporated into their texts, and the fairy tales became Christian textbooks, also with regard to child development and education. So if </span>
  <span>fairies</span>
  <span> are associated with the devil here, it is not as dramatic as it might sound to you."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Legolas definitely did not seem convinced. "Over the years between you and me, a lot has changed in people's ideas about the world," he said. "I recognize some things in the religion you call Christianity, but many things also seem strange and ... well, twisted."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Religion plays hardly any role today, especially in Western countries where atheism is widespread," Jack said. "Fairy tales are above all children's stories. Their morality is often universal and does not necessarily have to be bound to religion."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"This aspect has above all a cultural-historical background," explained Eri. "In many fairy tales, spinning plays an important role, which suggests that a woman's value used to be measured by what a hard-working and skilful spinner she was. But that leads too far and is not interesting for us either.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>In any case, I have read some fairy tales and have repeatedly come across stories in which people come to the underworld. For example in The Thimble or The Appearance of O'Donoghue. I also found this nice little text in the German children's and house fairy tales."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>She took an English translation of it and opened the fairy tale with the number 39. Then she read it out loud: </span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Once upon a time there was a poor maid, who was industrious and clean, and she swept the house every day, and poured the garbage into a large heap outside the door. One morning, just as she was about to go back to work, she found a letter on it, and because she couldn't read, she put the broom in the corner and brought the letter from her master, and there it was, an invitation from the elves, who asked the maid to baptize a child for them. The girl did not know what she should do, at last she was persuaded to do much, and because they told her that such a thing could not be refused, she agreed. Then three fairies came and led her into a hollow mountain, where the little ones lived. Everything there was small, but so delicate and magnificent that it is impossible to tell. The childbed lay in a bed of black ebony with buttons of pearls, the blankets were embroidered with gold, the cradle was of ivory, the bath tub of gold. The girl was now a godfather and wanted to go home again, but the fairies begged her to stay with them for three days. So he stayed and spent the time in pleasure and joy, and the little ones did everything for his sake. At last it wanted to make its way back, so they first put its pockets full of gold and then led it back out to the mountain. When it came home, it wanted to begin its work, took the broom in its hand, which was still standing in the corner, and began to sweep. Then strangers came out of the house, asking who it was and what it had to do there. There it was not three days, as it had meant, but seven years with the little men in the mountain, and its previous dominion had died in that time "**.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>She closed the book again. "The passage of time, which passes at different speeds, spontaneously reminded me of the description of Lórien," she said.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"It all seems very much pulled by the hair," Legolas said sceptically.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"You want to go back to your homeland, I can stay here," Eri reminded him. "I don't know of any case like yours, so we should pounce on even the smallest clue."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Especially since in Tolkien's works the references to well-known mythological circles cannot be overlooked, so it can't come by accident," Jack added. "The longer I think about it, the more I am convinced that we are not on the wrong track here."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Unfortunately, I don't know that phrase," Legolas said.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"That means we are probably following the right track," said Eri. "Or more likely. What have you found, Jack?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I wasn't as old-fashioned as you, Eri, and tried the Internet," he said. "I looked to see if, and if so, how the belief in fairies is still lived out in Ireland today. There really are still some wackos who run off on a rainbow and literally want to find the jackpot. Well, Google finds everything and I came across a storyteller in the deepest rural Irish region you can imagine. She's supplementing her pension with storytelling and probably has a grandson who's very tech-savvy and has built a website for her - but it's totally outdated, so I don't know if it's any good. Anyway, she advertises on it with all kinds of magical tricks. Get in contact with your ancestors and all that nonsense. But maybe there is something to it? I'm starting to believe everything." He nodded in the direction of Legolas.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"The only problem is: How do we get to Ireland?", Eri gave to think.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"By boat, there are ferries. Or by plane to Dublin and then by bus or something," said Jack. "That's really not a problem."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Oh, yes, it is. Schengen agreement or not, and this Brexit shit hasn't kicked us out of the EU yet, but you still need a passport," Eri stressed.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Oh, right. Shit."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>They looked at Legolas in unison. He looked at them confused.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"What does that mean?", he wanted to know.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Anyone, or shall we say: Every person in reasonable countries has an identity card," said Eri. "With it he can identify himself without a doubt at any time. But you need a birth certificate for that, and you don't have one. And we can't apply for a passport with it either. For the state, you practically do not exist. Bureaucracy is complicated."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Great. Already over with our great plans," sighed Jack.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Eri hesitated a moment. "Maybe not necessarily. If we were to go to Ireland, we could pretend Legolas was entering legally, I think."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"In other words: You want to forge a passport?", Jack asked and his eyes grew large. "Oh, this is getting too hot for me."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Not me, but I know someone who can do it," Eri confessed.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Jack looked at her astonished. "How do you get such people? I mean, strictly speaking, that's criminal."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Not all my stock market transactions are clean," Eri said. "Why do you think I can afford this standard of living? Not even my job is enough for that. I've met some people."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Jack sucked in the air between his teeth. "Gee, Eri, this is a whole new side of you. I've never seen you like this."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Didn't you ever watch The Wolf of Wall Street?" she asked him. "You should have guessed that when it comes to a lot of money, not everything is always clean. But you keep that to yourself, right? Otherwise, that's it for me."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I'm not stupid, of course!" he said.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Do you really want to risk it for me?" Legolas intervened again. "I don't quite understand what you're talking about, but it sounds like a lot of trouble."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Of course, we'll call the lady first," said Eri, "and generally find out what the situation is with her. But the meager Irish leftovers in me say that for us it must go to Ireland anyway."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I'm a bit nervous about the passport forgery, but ... actually it's quite an adventure," said Jack. "It's just a question of whether I can get a vacation from work for a trip to Ireland. Crap."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Meanwhile it was late in the evening. They agreed that Jack would call the storyteller as soon as he could during the week, and at the weekend they didn't want to bother a strange old lady. They also decided not to tell her yet what they were really after. She would probably just declare them crazy and hang up on them again. With that he said goodbye.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"<em>Le fael</em>," Legolas said with a grateful smile as he said goodbye.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>*Refrain of I See Fire by Ed Sheeran, quoted from azlyrics.com<br/>**Die Wichtelmänner, Second Fairy Tale, KHM 39, Grimm Fairy Tale, quoted from grimmstories.com and in my own translation. I don’t know if there is an official translation of this. I of course read it in German.</p><p>Le fael - You [are] generous, Sindarin</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Candle Light Dinner</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">
  <span>The morning of the next day Eri and Legolas spent in front of her TV and watched the first Lord of the Rings movie. He had asked her if he could braid her hair on the side. He said that she usually wears her hair tied up so tightly to a bun, which would be a shame, since she actually has such beautiful long hair. She had taken the fun and agreed. Now she sat in front of him on the floor in front of the sofa and was amazed at what patience he had in brushing her hair.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Eri remembered having read in Tolkien's book that elves were very hair-obsessed and loved beautiful hair. She was amazed, however, how many of such general phrases applied to Legolas as well. Actually, she had expected such things to be rather clichéd, but apparently, Elves were a more homogeneous race than one might think.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>When Elrond dramatically told Gandalf that he had been with Isildur and had refrained from tripping him up, she noticed Legolas grabbing her shoulder. He squeezed once, and something crunched in her shoulder.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Ow!", she made an indignant noise.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"That was necessary," he told her, "You are always very challenged by your work, you probably don't even notice it yourself. Your tension is obvious."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>She tried circling with her shoulder. "It really does feel better," she said with astonishment.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"But you have to keep still, otherwise I can't do your hair," he jokingly admonished her.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Legolas seemed to feel very well entertained by the film. He probably only found it very funny and amusing how people of the twenty-first century imagined his world, Eri wondered. Afterwards, however, he at least praised the acting performance of many actors, but he said that all of the elf actors were unsuitable. Now that she had got to know a real elf a little better, Eri could not help but agree with him. A human would never be able to portray an elf even remotely accurately.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>She had actually been given a table for two people at Ledbury for this evening at short notice, which meant that she went to the bathroom soon after the movie to get dressed up for the evening. She planned on spending more time anyway, as she would probably have to tie Legolas' bow tie, and she had more experience with ties than flies, so it would probably take several tries.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Legolas couldn't help but take a tip or two about how much time she spent in the bathroom.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Things that will obviously never change," he teased. "Both in my time and yours, women spend far too much time getting dressed up."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Oh, be quiet, elf!" she cried from the bathroom. "You don't know anything about it. Just put on the suit and you're done."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I did your hair after all," Legolas reminded her. "You'll have to admit that of all the ladies tonight, you'll have the most beautiful hair."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>She heard him laughing softly at the door. "Hmph," she said. "Point taken."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>To be honest, she didn't even take much pleasure in standing in the bathroom for hours, painting her face colorful and doing her hair artfully. The latter had Legolas thankfully taken off her, but she still didn't want to do without the makeup. She wore very little makeup in her daily life, but especially when she went out in fine evening company, she felt naked and exposed even with little. There she always had the feeling that the other women were staring at her like lionesses, just waiting to tear her to pieces as soon as they discovered even one wrinkle on her. Eri was in her mid-thirties and the thought of gray hair and wrinkled skin was a horror to her.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>When she came to the bathroom door, dressed and made up, Legolas was already waiting for her with a mischievous smile. He pushed himself off the wall against which he had been leaning casually until then, grabbed her hand and breathed a kiss on it.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"You look lovely, lady," he said with a wink.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"You old charmer," she returned, but was still flattered.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Did you expect anything else? You have to make a good impression on the ladies at royal balls," he said jokingly. He offered her an arm to escort her downstairs to the living room.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Smiling, she hooked under it. "Quite the gentleman," she said. "It's really quite rare nowadays."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"At least some gestures of politeness still do not seem to have been completely forgotten," he noted. "In a way, that relieves me. But then not everything has become strange."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>When they arrived downstairs, Eri noticed with a glance at the kitchen clock that they still had plenty of time before the cab they had ordered would arrive. That evening she didn't feel like bothering with public transportation or pedaling herself.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"What are we going to do until then?" she asked. </span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"You could help me with that," Legolas suggested and handed her the fly tape. The picture explanation she had printed out for him was apparently not enough after all. She wasn't even angry with him about it; flies and ties were also a devil's work.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"That suit really looks really good on you," she said. She couldn't even express how good it really looked on the elf.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I hope so, too, after you subjected me to this torture yesterday," he countered.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Come on, it wasn't that bad."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I had to carry your bags, it was unbearable suffering!"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"You should have been a drama queen! You're a terrible person!"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>They both had to laugh heartily.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Now, keep still or I'll strangle you, and we don't want that," she said when they had calmed down somewhat.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>To make it easier for her, he sat down on one of the kitchen tables. With Eri, one constantly feared that the next breath of wind would blow her away, he had once said. She was not necessarily small, at least for a woman, but she was very delicately built. Of course, he was still noticeably taller than her, even if she wore pumps.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Tell me, is that part of being a prince?" she wanted to know.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"What exactly?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Well, manners, I suppose. I've never had anything to do with princes. Except once with Prince William, who I met in a pub. We had a nice chat and he bought me a drink."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Of course, that's part of it," Legolas said. "Father had even attached great importance to it when I was studying. Besides, it's just polite to ladies. Or do you see things differently here?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Unfortunately now, yes, I have the feeling. Wait, is the bow tie too tight?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"No, it's fine. I won't choke."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Oh, man, you!"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"It fascinates me that the term man is also used as a profanity. By men. But I don't really understand it. Well, you mean that manners count for nothing nowadays? That would appal me very much."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"You know, sometimes in the evening, when I watch the news of the day, I get the feeling that everyone's going crazy. America elects Trump as president, the European Union is crumbling, all the old British sacks have voted for the Brexit. Meanwhile, they are all bombing each other in the Middle East," she said, "You don't have to become a Christian right away, but loving your neighbor would be something we could make more of. My goodness, even I should do that."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Leaving it to the common people to choose by whom they are governed seems to me a little unconventional anyway," he said.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Don't get it wrong, democracy is one of the greatest achievements we could achieve," she said. "The American electoral system alone is, in my opinion, completely desolate if someone like Trump, who is not actually a politician, can come to power. This is particularly problematic because America sees itself as the world's police force. But a second Obama was probably illusory anyway. But you know what, in 2020 it's the return of the Jedi and Bernie Sanders rocks it. If they don't cut Trump off before then. Man, that still hasn't happened yet..."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>At that moment the doorbell rang. Her cab had arrived. They took their things and went outside. Legolas was even gallant enough to hold the cab door open for Eri. She knew that he was still very suspicious of cars and did not trust them, but she credited him with his ability to play up his discomfort at that moment. She smiled at him and got in, he sat down on the other side of the back seat. Eri indicated her destination and the driver drove off.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>She was quite excited and admittedly a bit jittery that the evening was going wrong. When did you ever go out for a fine dinner with an elf? And then also with a prince! Although he had never really let this aspect hang out. He mentioned it now and then, as Jack mentioned that he was a doctor. As if there were elven princes on every street corner in Middle-earth. If she was thinking of the First Age, that might not have been an inappropriate image.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Eri was aware that they were both actually overdressed, even for the Ledbury. But she had simply been in the mood to dress up so fine without dragging Legolas to some gala event. Maybe she just wanted to impress him. Whether she had succeeded, she did not know. What Legolas thought was sometimes difficult for her to judge. Now and then she could almost forget that he was an elf from a distant time. Then again, there were moments when she was made aware of his otherness.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>The Ledbury was one of the city's posh restaurants, where you went if you wanted to show that you were somebody and had too much money in your account. Accordingly, the ambience, the food and wine were exquisite and the service excellent. Eri was sure that Legolas would especially enjoy the wine. </span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>She had ordered a four-course menu for the two of them, and when the waiter arrived, she ordered a bottle of red Burgundy, the richest one she could find on the menu. She hadn't asked Legolas about his taste in wine, but by now she had a rough idea why she wanted to surprise him.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>In the meantime Legolas had looked around a bit. "I suppose such a place is what you would call posh here," he said. "I admit, I like it."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Wait for the food," she advised him. "The Ledbury is one of the finest restaurants in the world.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Now you make me curious," he confessed. "And the wine list looks very extensive. Will you enlighten me on all the wines? For certain reasons they interest me."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>He smiled his mischievous smile again, which made him look like a rascal who was up to something.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Goodness me, I don't know much about wine myself," she confessed, "but I have a book or two about winemaking somewhere at home, I can give them to you."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>In the meantime, the wine was served. When the waiter had left, Legolas said in a somewhat lowered voice, which was supposed to sound conspiratorial: "This is like back home with the palace servants. Although ... I noticed it already yesterday when we bought the dresses."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"There's a saying: The customer is king," she said, "and if you only go to the right stores, they carry your ass after you because you pay for it."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Soon the first course was served, white beets, baked in clay, English caviar and in addition smoked and dried eel. Legolas was a bit skeptical about the food.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"That looks... peculiar," he said. </span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"It's mainly for the taste," she explained to him. "You shouldn't be stuffed and round as a ball after one course, you don't pay a lot of money for four courses. Besides, you'd also get sick to your stomach if each course was much more. At least we don't eat in roman style."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Hm, the ingredients and their sideboard may not be what I'm used to at home, but I know this way of eating," he said. "When father invites all the fine people of the realm, most of the time there are only appetizers. Gimli had experienced this once and complained that we forest elves eat a salad leaf once a month and then don't need to eat anything."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>She giggled. "So the dwarves really do carouse and fill up their pears with dwarf beer until they are drunk under the table."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Exactly." He smiled. "But Gimli just can't get me under the table. He keeps trying, though."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"That's a wicked thing to do," she teased. "You are an elf, and you can take a lot more than mortals."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"That's what I keep telling Gimli, but he won't listen." He just shrugged his shoulders. "Shall we toast? I am dying to taste this wine. It looks like a good wine."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Legolas turned out to be a connoisseur - though she expected nothing less. He seemed to take some pleasure in showing it off to her and explaining in detail the virtues and characteristics of the wine she had ordered.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I even recognize certain features of Dorwinion wine," he concluded, "the finest drop I have ever enjoyed."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Oh, really?" it slipped out of her. Inside, she rejoiced. Jackpot! </span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"This wine here might even suit my relative Celeborn," he mused. "It's a touch less full-bodied than the Dorwinion wine, but I think Celeborn could see past that. Although he usually drinks only Dorwinion and accepts that the transport route will pass Dol Guldur. Lady Galadriel, by the way, always asserts that no wine in the world can taste better than wine made in Valinor. But I believe her immediately."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"She could be right," Eri wondered. "It's just a pity that we can't try our way through the wine list to find a counter-example. I don't have that much money either."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I would have done it if I had something to pay for," said Legolas.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"But tell me, you just called Celeborn your relative," Eri said. "What about your family? Tolkien only ever mentioned you, your father and your grandfather. And I'm sorry if that question is too private."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"No, not at all," he affirmed. "It's just... My family history is not the happiest. My mother died just as we were leaving Lórien because grandfather didn't want to have anything to do with his nephew Celeborn - Galadriel to be precise. Grandfather was always very ... unconventional when it came to the Noldor. It was probably Menegroth, I think, and he was never good at differentiating. Well, after all, that's where my grandmother, whom I had never met, was killed. We were just starting to build a home in Eryn Galen when orcs attacked us. And well ... Not only was my mother killed, but my wife was also done the same to me as was done to the Lady Celebrían. And there was no time to seek help from Lord Elrond, who was then still living with King Gil-galad in Lindon. Much too far away ... Perhaps she is waiting for me in Valinor."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Wife?" Eri called herself a fool to ask so crude a question. But that had taken her by surprise. She had somehow always assumed that he was still single. But why actually? "I'm sorry about that," she stammered. "I shouldn't have asked."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>He waved. "Never mind," he reassured her and smiled again. "The food is good - though it takes getting used to - the wine is even better. Let the past be the past."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Exactly. So tell me: What is your impression of London?" she asked, happy about the change of topic. "Yesterday a full blast, today fine food. I'm curious what you think about all this."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>He took a moment to reflect. "A surprisingly difficult question," he said. "You have shown me some things by now that I am convinced make life easier. A refrigerator, for example. Or the medicine you know here. On the other hand, there are some things that I am skeptical about. Cars, for example, a carriage that drives without horses ... I don't know if that is such a good idea. They are loud and fast and stink. I have also noticed that this city is so dead. Even in the stone city of Gondor, there is more life."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Dead?" Eri wondered. "London pulsates with life. What do you mean?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"The plants have no air to breathe," he said, "and the animals are sickly. They are surprisingly well adapted to life in this city, but if they lived in a natural environment, they would certainly be better off. For example, I have seen many of these birds that you call pigeons, which have poorly healed injuries on their feet. And the plants also get sick from the bad air. I haven't even talked about the people who live here. </span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>This time seems to me very impersonal and emotionally cold. One rushes past each other without even giving the other a friendly look. One only looks up when one is angry with the other - often only because of a small thing. To be honest, this horrifies me. As you said earlier: There is a lack of charity."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"My goodness, I didn't expect such an extensive and also accurate social analysis now," she confessed. She looked up at the elf in admiration. "You are very attentive."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Actually, I feel overwhelmed by all the impressions that are rushing at me," he confessed. "It is simply too much. The many people, the noise, the colorful lights. It's probably a skill that you learn in order to survive here, to be able to filter all these impressions. If I had more time and if it wasn't so urgent that I come back to my home, who knows? Maybe in the course of time I would find pleasure in it after all? In any case, I would look at more than just London. Because the diversity of this city really impresses me. I never expected that so much would grow out of the houses of the Edain.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"But then you shouldn't forget the Haradrim and Easterlings," she threw in. "Perhaps they were the ancestors of the Africans and Asians? Asia is crazy, I tell you! Especially the Far East. The Chinese represent a gigantic economic power and the Japanese are following because they have an excellent understanding of how to market their culture internationally. For example, the sushi we ate last week came from Japan."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I would really be very curious to experience more of this time. But..." He paused. "I don't belong here, I realize that every day more. I feel so strange."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>She reached out a hand and grabbed his. "I'm so sorry all this happened to you", she affirmed, "Pity is really the most useless emotion, but well ... We'll fix it. Maybe that granny in Ireland knows what to do."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I can't thank you enough, Eri," he repeated, not for the first time since he showed up at her place.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Only then did she realize that she had been staring at him. His light smile, the elegant curve of his lips, the even facial features, as if they were chiseled by Michelangelo out of the finest marble, and then his eyes, in which she threatened to drown. She blinked. </span>
  <span>
    <em>No, not a good idea</em>
  </span>
  <span>, she warned herself.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>In the meantime, the second course had also been served, roasted scallops, zucchini, green olives and sake.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Sake is Japanese rice wine," explained Eri to Legolas. "If we had gone to the Japanese, not only would it have been processed in the food, but you could have drunk it straight. I wonder if you would have liked it."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"And this?" Legolas asked, pointing to the mussels.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"These are scallops. This is what they look like." Eri took her smartphone out of her pocket and showed him some pictures of the animals via Google picture search. "I love seafood. Especially mussels. Okay, oysters rather less. It's not necessarily everyone's taste either. But I always have such a bad conscience when I eat fish and seafood." She sighed.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>In the meantime Legolas had tasted the mussels and apparently found them edible, even if he didn't burst into storms of joy. "What do you mean?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"There's a statistic that I honestly find very frightening," she said, "which says that by 2050 the oceans will be empty. I don't know if that has been revised downwards in the meantime, and it's even more likely now, but it's crass enough already. You can't even imagine. You can comfortably breed one or two oysters at home and meanwhile the oceans become emptier and emptier."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Empty? So completely?", he asked breathlessly and wanted to put the mussel he just had on his fork back on the table. Then he probably thought about the fact that the animal was already dead anyway, and yet he ate it.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Yes, they sometimes say on the news," she confirmed, "that's another thing about overpopulation. For all humans to have enough to live on, we would have to colonize three earths."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>He shook his head. "Insanity, this is insanity," he said.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>And she was well aware that she, too, was part of it, and yet she couldn't jump over her shadow to start improving the world on a small scale.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Now we have such an unpleasant subject again." He grinned. "My goodness, we are incorrigible. So Eri, same with same. Now I have told you a little bit about my family, now I want to know something about yours. I hope you have more luck with your wives than we do."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Well, there's not much to say," she said, "Sometime maybe two hundred years ago my ancestors immigrated from Ireland to England. At that time they were still called Ó Ceallaigh, before they took on the British form of O'Kelly. They leased land, became rich, finally bought the typical English country house and still live there today. Mom and Grandma are real country children from the Oxford area. Did you know that the building of a branch library of Oxford University inspired Tolkien to create the Temple of Melkor on Númenor? Hm, although ... maybe it wasn't an inspiration at all ... Well, anyway, I always found the countryside boring and dull, I wanted to go to the city and experience something. So I studied economics, worked my way up and ended up where I am now. End of the story. Totally boring actually. </span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Oh, whereby! My first name is a form of Eriu, I'm named after Grandma, as is tradition in Ireland. Eriu is the name of a queen of the Túatha de Dánann, an fairy queen if you like. I always thought that was a bad joke."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"I find that name very fitting," he contradicted. "As I told you when we first met, it's a very beautiful name. Now that I know what it means, I think it suits you even better."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Oh, dear, I'm blushing again," she said. "Don't do that to me."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>He smiled cheekily. Obviously he did it on purpose to embarrass her with flattery.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"But tell me, Eri, if I may allow myself to be so direct," he said, now more serious again. "What about your own family?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"For God's sake, what are you thinking about?!" she replied. "Nowadays it's career or family. I have obviously chosen career. I just have no luck with men. And it's too late for children in their mid-thirties anyway."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"And Jack? Is he still unattached?" he wanted to know. "From what I overheard on the sidelines, you two used to be close."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Yes, he's single. But why do you want to know that?" she asked suspiciously. "Are you up to something?"</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Me? Never! I'm as innocent as a young fawn."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>She had to laugh. "You look like one. And here it's called meek as a lamb."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Still, she decided to keep an eye on Legolas. He must have been up to something. Why else would he ask about Jack so specifically? Jack was over and done with. History.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>They spent the rest of the evening chatting. Roland of Gilead would attach great importance to that, of course, but he was also a gunslinger. For Eri, it was just a pleasant conversation, in which at some point she probably concentrated more on Legolas' face and the sound of his voice than on what he said. He didn't seem to mind if he noticed at all, but in return even seemed pleased to have an apparently willing listener for all his little stories from his life at Eryn Lasgalen. He knew some entertaining incident about every palace servant, and Eri was impressed that he knew so much to tell. Later, she would grab her head and tell herself that it should not surprise her. Whoever lived for six thousand years certainly knew a lot to tell.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>It was already approaching midnight when she paid the bill and drove them back home by cab. As expected, the bill had turned out to be high, and this was slowly making itself felt in Eri's account as well. It wasn't that she was splurging every month, but she was aware that she might have to organize a passport for Legolas, and she would have to dig even deeper into her pockets. She would probably have to shift down a gear for the next few months.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>But these were thoughts she didn't want to have right now. She quickly pushed them aside. Later, when she was alone in bed in her room, others came for them. With frightening clarity, one thing became clear to her as she reflected on the evening: she had fallen in love with Legolas.</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>"Oh great, that's a load of crap," she murmured, "Man, man, man, Eri, you really have no luck with these guys."</span>
</p><p class="western">
  <span>Sighing, she turned off the light and pulled the blanket over her head. "Stupid idea, very, very stupid idea."</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. In the Land of the Leprechauns</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">Eri told herself that she was just a little drunk on wine that night. A slight infatuation, a crush, nothing more. Deep inside she knew that this was not true. It was her cursed bad luck with men that meant that even in her mid-thirties she had not yet made a lasting commitment and probably never would.</p><p class="western">In the meantime, Jack had sent a WhatsApp voice message saying that he had talked to the old fairytale lady from Ireland. She would no longer practise magic, she had told him, but if they were so interested that they would even travel from England, she would make an exception for them. There would also be tea and cake if they so wished.</p><p class="western">Since it was their only lead, they decided to give it a try. Unfortunately, Jack couldn't get a holiday at work, so Eri and Legolas would make the journey alone. Jack had realised that Eri would have to pay a lot for Legolas' passport, even if she didn't talk about it, so he offered to cover at least part of the costs. Since he could not be dissuaded, Eri finally agreed. They did not say anything about it in front of Legolas so as not to embarrass him even more.</p><p class="western">Finally, it was October when Legolas had his passport and they could take the car ferry from Holyhead to Dublin. Eri preferred public transport and taxis in London. For routes outside London she preferred to drive her Bentley.</p><p class="western">"And I thought you kept this monster in the garage just for decoration," joked Legolas.</p><p class="western">"Do you want to drive in London?" she replied. When he denied this, she added: "You see."</p><p class="western">"But I don't want to drive at all," he specified. "I prefer the horseback."</p><p class="western">"Horses are only good for goulash," she claimed, "I really had to muck out too many stables in my childhood. The animals stink. Now get in."</p><p class="western">Since he was in London, he had avoided using any modern means of transport wherever possible. It was probably something he would never warm up to. A little reluctant, he got in on the passenger side and fastened his seat belt. Eri took a last look into the boot with their luggage, as they had planned at least two overnight stays for this trip. After checking that the front door was locked and the alarm system, which had been replaced in the meantime, was switched on, she sat down behind the steering wheel and started the engine.</p><p class="western">"You sit there as if expecting a Balrog under the bonnet at any moment," she stung back.</p><p class="western">"I don't think that's funny," he said insulted. "And you don't joke about Balrogs."</p><p class="western">"Are you actually aware that you just used the English plural?" she pointed out to him.</p><p class="western">"So? Did I?", he wondered. "You see, it's about time I came back home, otherwise I'll lose my mother tongue. Eri!" The last one he exclaimed in horror.</p><p class="western">"Man, Elf! Don't scare me like that," she called back and stepped on the brakes. They had just left the driveway and he was already panicking because of a car coming out of a side street.</p><p class="western">"So, first rule as a passenger: Shut up," she made clear when the horror had passed. "You don't talk the driver into it. And you don't reach into the steering wheel or anything else to make that clear. Clear?"</p><p class="western">"I don't trust this... thing," he said with a frown.</p><p class="western">"Fine, then don't," she said dryly. "But if you keep driving me crazy, I'll really end up building another accident and we won't even leave London. That starts out great. Shall we listen to an audio book?"</p><p class="western">"Whatever," he sighed. "What have you got there?"</p><p class="western">"Various Stephen Kings, the odd business stuffer. Oh! And the Narn. It's read by Christopher Lee. He played Saruman. Let's hear that," she decided, already typing around on her screen in the dashboard before he could even agree.</p><p class="western">"Watch the road," he said nervously.</p><p class="western">"I'm looking at the road!" she snorted back. "Why do you think I put a touch screen and a hands-free kit in this car? And if you so much as complain that I drive like a hangman, you will walk." Jack did this often enough, which is why when they went somewhere together, he usually insisted on driving.</p><p class="western">That made him laugh for some reason. She could not complain, she liked his laughter. Like bright bells ringing.</p><p class="western">"I really don't think we'll even leave London if this goes on," he said. "Few of my journeys can compare with this adventure."</p><p class="western">Their adventure initially consisted of a five-hour drive to Holyhead, where they would take the car ferry to Dublin. In Dublin itself, they would stay in one of the city hotels, as Eri did not want to take the approximately one and a half hour drive to Ardagh, the destination of her journey, where the old woman lived. Five hours to Holyhead and then the ferry crossing would be enough for her. Besides, they were invited for an afternoon snack and not for dinner.</p><p class="western">They had already left London behind for a while, when Legolas probably realised slowly that no Balrog would attack him. Perhaps the English countryside did the rest. At least he gradually seemed more relaxed. Meanwhile, Christopher Lee told them the tragic story of the children of Húrin and made them forget the monotonous time on the streets.</p><p class="western">As Holyhead appeared more and more often on the street signs, Legolas took his fake passport out of the glove compartment. He looked at it thoughtfully for a while.</p><p class="western">"So this piece of paper is supposed to identify me beyond any doubt?" he asked. "It seems a strange concept to me. And what if, when you check it, you discover that it's not real?"</p><p class="western">"Oh, bother, that won't happen," she replied, but mainly to reassure herself. She was nervous, of course. It wasn't every day you travelled to another country with a fake passport, even if it was within the EU. If all went well, she would only have to endure this nerve test once. But that also meant that she would have to make the return journey without Legolas.</p><p class="western">She felt a twinge in her heart. She had become so familiar with Legolas in the last few weeks that she wondered why she had always lived alone with her goldfish in that huge house all those years before. How had she put up with that? The thought of soon being without him again seemed terrible to her.</p><p class="western">Did she really want him to leave again? Not really. Of course it was a selfish thought, but selfless love only existed in novels. At the same time, she knew that things could not go well with the two of them anyway. He was an elf and she was a mortal human. And he was married ... That was a thought that simply did not want to get stuck in her head. Why did she have to fall in love with the worst possible candidate?</p><p class="western">She hung herself on this thought as they approached Holyhead, to cover up her nervousness before passport control. She hoped that he hadn't realised how she felt about him by now, because that would be embarrassing. Eri, the little dummy, fell in love with the first prince she met who fell into her arms. That could have come from a bad comedy.</p><p class="western">Holyhead was a sleepy little nest on the coast of England facing Ireland - at least sleepy by London standards. Ever since Eri lived in London, every other town seemed like a one-horse town to her. Holyhead was especially important because of its ferry connections to Ireland, so the port was very busy. Eri cursed extensively about the other drivers, while they probably cursed about her and her Bentley as well.</p><p class="western">Legolas watched the hustle and bustle curiously through the window, but Eri asked him to leave it up, as she did not want to hear the noise of the cars and the harbour. Not to mention the smell of fish.</p><p class="western">"You're exaggerating", he gently pointed out to her. "The only thing unpleasant here is the exhaust fumes of these monsters."</p><p class="western">She sighed and did not even engage in a discussion with him. Instead, she preferred to concentrate on the traffic so they could reach their ferry. Her nervousness increased. She had never gone so far in stretching the law a little. But now there was no turning back. Probably there was no other option than this anyway.</p><p class="western">Their worries were completely in vain, they got through passport control unhindered. The official had not even looked as closely as he probably should have. This honestly astonished Eri in these times, but it should be all right with her. Finally the car was parked on the ferry and they could finally get out.</p><p class="western">She stretched with pleasure. "Phew, took long enough," she said, "Let's go on deck and watch the ferry leave."</p><p class="western">"Really, I would never have thought that, but I'm afraid we'll sink as soon as this ship sets off", joked Legolas. "At first I didn't want to believe that this steel monster was a ship. Let alone that it could swim!"</p><p class="western">"It's a pity you'll never see an aeroplane up close," she replied, "I had thought about flying to Dublin at first, but I didn't feel like taking the bus all the way to Ardagh with all those one-horse towns. So car ferry. Steel can not only swim, it can fly! I know the physical principles, but I still find it amazing myself. So: Somehow I can understand you there."</p><p class="western">"Once!" he exclaimed cheeringly. "I never thought I'd see this again."</p><p class="western">"Your sense of humour is really stupid." She smiled.</p><p class="western">They went out on deck together, and she reminded him once more, just in case, that he was Mike for everyone and that he was from Wales. His accent seemed to evoke associations with Welsh in many, and after Eri had thought about it a bit, it didn't seem entirely inappropriate to her either. She remembered that Tolkien had based Sindarin on Welsh; it was more likely that the two languages were related or had close linguistic contact, she thought. So the most obvious thing to say to them was that he was from Wales. After she had shown him a few pictures of the landscape, he thought it might well fit.</p><p class="western">"Just too few trees," he had said.</p><p class="western">She had not been surprised.</p><p class="western">When he arrived on deck, he enjoyed the sea air around his nose. "Ah, much better," he said and leaned against the railing. "The calls of the seagulls, the salty air, the light swell. I never thought all this would ever cast such a spell on me."</p><p class="western">He began to hum a soft melody and finally sang a few soft words to it.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <em>To the Sea, to the Sea! The white gulls are crying,</em>
</p><p class="western">
  <em>The wind is blowing, and the white foam is flying.</em>
</p><p class="western"><em>West, west away, the round sun is falling.</em>*</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">"Where did you get the English text?" Eri wanted to know.</p><p class="western">"If you work all day, I have plenty of time to read," Legolas said with a shrug of the shoulders. "After we had seen the film, I thought maybe I could leaf through the book one day. And before you panic and rip my head off: I didn't look at the appendices as you wished."</p><p class="western">"But I hope you haven't touched my first edition or the Folio Society editions," she added. "I'll be angry too, these are treasures."</p><p class="western">"I don't know which edition it was," he confessed. "But the book was red and very worn."</p><p class="western">"Oh, good. Your luck," she threatened him playfully.</p><p class="western">Meanwhile, she noticed a blonde coming towards them, determinedly heading for Legolas. Eri sighed inwardly. Blonde, what a cliché ... There were always some women (and one or two men) who had turned around on the road to Legolas when they had made one of their few trips to the city, but so far they had been spared the embarrassment of one of the ladies throwing herself at Legolas. As it looked, this would change very soon.</p><p class="western">"Watch out for that one," she could just say before the other one got close.</p><p class="western">Eri felt like she was in a bad comedy.</p><p class="western">"Hey, sweetie", the blonde opened the courtship dance.</p><p class="western">"Hello," Legolas replied only dryly and gave Eri a meaningful side glance. So he had quickly understood what her visit was all about, and he didn't seem very enthusiastic.</p><p class="western">The blonde leaned casually beside him against the railing. "I am Abigail. From America. And you are? All alone in the wilderness?"</p><p class="western">Oh, someone was in heat, it crossed Eri's mind. Typical American...</p><p class="western">"Neither alone nor in the wilderness," Legolas weakened and pointed to Eri. "My companion Eri also deserves a greeting. I am Mike."</p><p class="western">Abigail only glanced at Eri with a disinterested look. "Welsh, huh? Man, how cool."</p><p class="western">"Hello ...", Eri just said, making it sound as out of tune as possible. She crossed her arms in front of her chest. She didn't let herself get away with that kind of impudence!</p><p class="western">"Am I interrupting something?", Abigail asked, followed by a suggestive wink. When Eri just shook her head, she exclaimed: "Great! Let's have a chat then!" The latter was again only addressed to Legolas.</p><p class="western">"We'd still be very grateful if we could have some breathing room," Legolas said in an extremely diplomatic manner. "We've had a tiring journey and are happy about the calm on the crossing."</p><p class="western">Eri's eyes shot lightning. What a whore!</p><p class="western">Abigail looked back and forth between them. "Hey, why don't you tell me there's something going on between you two," she complained. "You can see that! But first lie, that there is nothing going on. You British have a stick up your ass. I can't even have a nice conversation with you." And she took off with it.</p><p class="western">Eri could barely hold out long enough for the American to get out of earshot.</p><p class="western">"Nice?" she nagged. "Nice?! What is that bitch thinking?! Arrives here and thinks she can grab anything that isn't in the trees at the count of three and that hasn't had MY fat stamped on its forehead!"</p><p class="western">"Take a breath, Eri, she's gone," Legolas gently told her.</p><p class="western">"How can you be so relaxed?" she exclaimed. "Did you see how she had thrown herself at you? If it had been possible, she would have torn your clothes off right here and now! And she treated me like air! Argh!"</p><p class="western">"Believe me, back home I sometimes deal with much worse people," he assured her. "She was harmless to that. After all, her intentions were obvious and poorly wrapped. Even with such ladies I had enough to do before I married. The worst are those who are only after the crown. Like wolves with the cunning of foxes. You really have to be careful."</p><p class="western">She puffed up her anger a few more times. Then she demonstratively hooked up with Legolas and found another place on deck to watch the departure. Legolas seemed to have soon forgotten the incident. When they ran into Abigail again some time later, she had already grabbed another guy. <em>Golf instructor</em>, Eri assessed.</p><p class="western">Legolas was fascinated by the ferry and at first didn't really want to believe that it could really go without sails and how quickly they would make the crossing to Dublin.</p><p class="western">"Everything goes so fast here," he marveled. "A journey of several days can be covered in a few hours."</p><p class="western">"A few hours I see differently," Eri said. "I'll be glad when we finally get there."</p><p class="western">He seemed to take particular pleasure in standing at the stern of the ferry and watching the propeller rummage through the water and the seagulls follow the ferry. Eri wondered if she should buy a small ship in a bottle in some tourist shop in Dublin to give him as a present. As a souvenir so that he would not forget her.</p><p class="western">What did she actually mean to Legolas? Was she only a fleeting moment in his life of thousands of years? Would he even remember her in a hundred years? Even in a thousand? He was very kind and courteous to her. But couldn't that just be his good manners? The thought that he regarded all this only as a small adventure, which he might soon have forgotten, kept her very busy. For most of the crossing she thought about how she could cleverly ask him what she actually was for him without arousing suspicion. When the ferry docked in Dublin, however, she had not yet found a satisfactory solution to her problem.</p><p class="western">She switched on the navigation system and gave the address of her hotel. Good God, she would be happy if they had finally arrived and she could lie down on her bed! For once, her navigation system Sybill guided her correctly.</p><p class="western">"Signs and wonders are still happening," she murmured as the hotel appeared in the street signs.</p><p class="western">"What do you mean?", asked Legolas, who had been busy marvelling at Dublin at night until now.</p><p class="western">"I called the sat nav Sybill because she always talks rubbish and sends me somewhere else," she explained, "After Sybill Trelawney from Harry Potter. She always talks rubbish too."</p><p class="western">"Why should you name objects? Even if they can speak ..." he wondered.</p><p class="western">"Why name swords," she replied. "And most of them can't even speak."</p><p class="western">"That's right, point taken," he conceded.</p><p class="western">"Score me <em>every time</em>, you know that," she reminded him.</p><p class="western">Eri's savings plans for the near future had not yet taken root in her mind, so she had booked herself into The Marker Hotel in the city centre, a five-star hotel with, as she admitted to herself, too much luxury for just one night, a day trip to Ardagh and one more night (and possibly alone) before she set off on her return journey. She was incorrigible in some things. Legolas noticed, of course, that she had caught "another one of those fancy places" and dropped the odd pointed remark.</p><p class="western">After checking in at the reception, however, Eri was expecting the next surprise. After they had received the room key and their luggage had already been taken to their room, she realised that they had been given a single-bed room.</p><p class="western">"What the ...?!", she said. "I had booked two beds!"</p><p class="western">"What's wrong with this?", Legolas wanted to know innocently and pointed to the room. "I think it offers more than enough to make us want to sleep here, have some breakfast tomorrow and then drive on to ... to ... What was the name of this unpronounceable place?"</p><p class="western">"Ardagh. But I want to sleep in separate beds", protested Eri. "Nothing against you, but... well, you know."</p><p class="western">He nodded. "Granted, that would be decent, yes."</p><p class="western">"Take care of the luggage," she instructed him. "I'm going back down to reception to make a complaint."</p><p class="western">"Leave the poor lady in one piece," Legolas called after her.</p><p class="western">Only a short time later, she came back snorting furiously. "Shit!" she growled, "I really did book two beds, but they had a bug in the system that indicated the room was free, although it wasn't. So they booked this and wrote an email. And I didn't look in the spam folder, where of course it ended up. Shit!"</p><p class="western">Legolas just shrugged his shoulders. "That's all right, isn't it? Then I'll sleep on the floor," he offered.</p><p class="western">"What? No, no way!" she said. "Maybe the sofa is a sofa bed or something."</p><p class="western">He grinned and seemed generally very unimpressed by her outburst. "You must decide what you want, Eri."</p><p class="western">She snorted. But she actually calmed down, his relaxed way of dealing with the situation radiated to her.</p><p class="western">The sofa did not turn out to be a sofa bed and probably only a hobbit could sleep comfortably on it. Furthermore, she refused to let him sleep on the floor, no matter how many times he said he wouldn't mind.</p><p class="western">"I've paid so much money for an overnight stay, I'll probably let you sleep on the carpet," she claimed. Maybe she just liked the thought of him being so close to her…</p><p class="western">Damn it, why couldn't Jack get a holiday? He would certainly have been very useful as a chaperone in this situation. Or had he just claimed he couldn't get a holiday so that this very thing could happen?</p><p class="western"><em>Now you're knitting conspiracy theories, Eri ...</em>, she said to herself and shook off that thought.</p><p class="western">"What is an infinity pool?", Legolas asked, who, while she was putting her things into one of the cupboards, had explored the room and found a hotel brochure in which he had discovered the pool.</p><p class="western">"These things look like they'll end up in nowhere. A pool is a big pool of water for swimming," she explained, "They have something like that here? I should have packed my swimming things. Shit."</p><p class="western">"So, Eri, now you've had enough of your whining and you're going to sit with me here on the bed and relax a bit," he said to her. There was an unusual commanding tone in his voice, which for some reason she didn't want to resist. Was it the first time he actually let the prince hang out in front of her?</p><p class="western">When she had sat down on the mattress, he sat down behind her and began to massage her shoulders. It crunched noticeably.</p><p class="western">"The long journey has taken you," he said. "I understand that, and I didn't even have to steer myself. But then there was our acquaintance Abigail, who still annoys you, I know that, and finally the wrongly booked room and the missing bathing costume - whereby you make far too big a problem out of the latter in particular, as I know you."</p><p class="western">She was admittedly startled at how well he knew her by now. He had hit the mark. Yes, she was very angry about all these little things that had ruined her day.</p><p class="western">"Just forget about all that," he continued. "Abigail is history, she's long gone, and that hotel room is not the end of the world."</p><p class="western">"Forget it, ha ha ... Ow!", she complained, when he suddenly pinched her shoulder muscles particularly hard.</p><p class="western">"If you don't relax right now, I'll do it again," he ordered. But she could hear the smile in his voice.</p><p class="western">"His Highness has spoken, I must obey," she responded, grateful that he tried to put her mind at rest.</p><p class="western">For a while he kneaded her shoulders in silence. She noticed how her muscles loosened quickly and how the exertion of the day gradually closed her eyes. Almost imperceptibly she leaned back and finally cuddled up against his chest. He said nothing and after a short hesitation put his arms around her. But by then she had almost fallen asleep.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>*Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, book six, chapter four</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Thierna na oge</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She had slept terribly. Unpleasant dreams had made her sleep restless and not very restful. In addition, she woke up the next morning even before her time and could not fall asleep again. She finally gave up trying to get one more capful of sleep.</p><p>When she noticed that Legolas had indeed slept on the other side of the bed, she suddenly remembered the previous evening. Good heavens, how embarrassing! Had she really fallen asleep in his arms, all classically kitschy? Slowly she began to wonder which terrible director had written the script of her life.</p><p>Legolas still seemed to be asleep and seemed to be pushing himself to the far edge of the bed. However, she was not sure if he was really still asleep when she thought of the chapter of the hunt of the three hunters. Elves were there as in so many things different from humans. Nevertheless she decided to stay in bed and stare at the ceiling.</p><p>Today they would talk to the old lady. Aimee McDuff, Jack had meant, was her name. She had forgotten the exact address again, but had stuck a note on the car dashboard. The navigation system would find it. So they were invited for tea, and she could bet that they would be filled with cakes and biscuits. Wasn't it always like that with old ladies?</p><p>And then? They would have to let the woman in on it, Eri knew that. She wasn't quite so sure of the idea. Who would believe them if they said that Legolas was really Legolas? Would it be an old lady?</p><p>But what if she believed them? Would she be able to help them? And if she could? Then this might be the last day she would see Legolas.</p><p>Eri was frightened and avoided carrying that thought any further.</p><p>After Legolas finally woke up and they had gotten up, he soon realised that her mood was not very good today. She blamed her poor sleep, but could not hide the fact that even the third cup of coffee at breakfast did not improve her mood.</p><p>They spent the morning exploring Dublin city centre before heading off to Ardagh to be on the mat at Mrs McDuff's at five o'clock sharp. Legolas was pleased to note that Dublin, though still a capital city, was in many ways hardly comparable to London. He still did not seem to warm to modern human cities, but apparently he found Dublin much more enjoyable than London. Mainly he gave the direction and looked around curiously in all directions, while she trotted along quite disinterestedly and did not really want to start this day. He made a few attempts to cheer her up again, but finally stopped when he received mostly mumbled answers.</p><p>Around three o'clock they returned to the hotel and set off for Ardagh. The car journey was mostly silent, while Eri, bored, tuned in to various Irish radio stations and still found nothing to appeal to. She didn't want to turn on one of her audio books either, although Legolas had been so enthusiastic the day before about Christopher Lee's reading of the story of the children of Húrin. He had remarked that Lee had been an excellent choice for Saruman, as he had met him extremely well, and had expressed surprise when she told him that Lee had once met Tolkien in person, who had said that Lee would make a very good Gandalf. Legolas had not really wanted to believe this, but Eri thought that Tolkien was right in his assessment, just as Lee's choice as Saruman had been appropriate.</p><p>They found Ardagh without any problems thanks to the navigation system, but when it was supposed to guide them to Mrs. McDuff's house, it became problematic. Apparently the navigation system did not know the street and Google Maps did not bring any enlightenment for once. When they had already literally driven around the village five times with the church, Legolas decided it was time to ask someone for directions.</p><p>"Normally they say that men never ask for directions," said Eri.</p><p>They stopped by the side of the road and asked someone who looked like a local. After that they had at least a rough idea where to go.</p><p>"That can't be that difficult," Eri grumbled. "This nest is the epitome of one-horse town. What does Wikipedia say? A thousand inhabitants? Six hundred of them are cows and cats, I bet."</p><p>With a little delay, however, they actually found Aimee McDuff's small, quiet house, which, like all the houses in the village, looked as if it had been built during the first settlement in Ireland and has been family-owned ever since. Eri once again found that she had absolutely no sense of such a quiet, peaceful and above all traditional country life, and she didn't even have to get out of the car to do so.</p><p>Eri could not deny that she was nervous when she rang the doorbell. At least Legolas seemed to feel the same way. After all, he had the prospect that he could soon be back in his homeland and that this unusual adventure would come to an end.</p><p>You could hear pots rattling. Someone was shouting something in a language that Eri thought was Irish. Then steps were heard and the door was opened. A small, elderly lady, who had certainly already reached her eightieth birthday, opened it for them. She was wearing a floral pattern cooking apron and a hairnet on her head, which tamed her grey curly hair. On her nose she wore thick horn-rimmed glasses. She looked at the two strangers from top to bottom and at first seemed unable to classify them.</p><p>"Hello, Mrs. McDuff," Eri greeted her. "Sorry we're a little late, but the sat nav couldn't find your address. My friend Jack has already spoken to you and you had invited us for tea today."</p><p>"The accent's British," remarked Mrs. McDuff, with an Irish accent that was strong in her turn. "Ah! Then I remember!" Her gaze lingered on Legolas. Suddenly, her eyes grew larger and larger. "Well, that changes everything! But come in first. I'm delighted to have visitors from abroad. And that's to my old age. The tea is already warm, but the cake is still in the oven. Apple strudel with apples from my garden, my mother's recipe."</p><p>Legolas gave Eri a questioning look, but she just shrugged her shoulders and followed Mrs. McDuff into the house. They wiped their shoes off the mat and took the slippers Mrs. McDuff gave them. Apparently they were knitted slippers.</p><p>"It's a bit cold in there," said the old lady. "I don't have anything as modern as underfloor heating in this old house, you know, and carpet isn't laid everywhere. Come into the living room and make yourself at home. I'll be right back with your tea."</p><p>Eri wanted to protest that the old lady didn't have to go to all that trouble for her, but every objection was nipped in the bud. They gave in and sat down on the sofa in the living room. An old wall unit made of dark wood dominated the room, and on its numerous shelves sat fairy figurines in various designs. In between were numerous fairy tale books. Eri could also make out a Stone Age tube television set, whose picture diagonal was certainly not much larger than that of her notebook.</p><p>Shortly afterwards Mrs. McDuff came back and carried a tray with a teapot and several cups. She placed the cups on the table in front of them and poured tea for them. Finally, with a sigh, she let herself sink heavily into the armchair.</p><p>"Earl Grey," she said, "Not really my taste in tea, but you are English. Well, I'm Aimee McDuff, but you can call me Aimee, dear. Your friend Jack has already told me a bit about you and your concern, Mrs O'Kelly." Then she turned to Legolas. "But with you, I'm very sure that your name isn't really Mike and that you actually have a different request than the young gentleman told me on the phone."</p><p>Legolas blinked confusedly and looked to Eri for help. But she was equally taken by surprise.</p><p>Mrs McDuff laughed inside herself. "Don't pretend, dear," she said friendly. "I know someone of the Silent People when they stand before me. I have been dealing with them all my life. Put a bowl of fresh milk on the windowsill in the evening, leave a loaf of bread in the field at harvest time and all that. People always think I'm a quirky old woman, but they just don't have a clue."</p><p>"Then I am pleased to introduce myself to you as Legolas Thranduilion," Legolas now took the floor.</p><p>"Oh dear!" exclaimed Mrs McDuff, and clasped her hands over her head. "Then you have a real problem."</p><p>"You could say that," he agreed with her.</p><p>"We haven't really got to the bottom of it on our own yet and hope that you can help us there," said Eri. Now they could play with their cards on the table anyway, even though she was surprised that the old lady immediately recognised who she was dealing with. "Legolas would like to return to his homeland for obvious reasons."</p><p>"I think I can help there," said Mrs McDuff. "But first there's cake and then you can tell me all about it from the beginning. The details are important."</p><p>Aimee MyDuff forbade them to help her take the cake out of the oven and into the living room. Then she disappeared into the kitchen. They heard it rattling again. Meanwhile, a cat came sneaking out of one of the other rooms, stroking their legs first and then settling on Legolas' lap to be stroked purring. As Eri reached out for her, the cat rose, turned its back to her, making it clear that it only wanted to be stroked by Legolas. Eri was mortally offended.</p><p>"The cat likes you more than me, that's unfair," she complained, but had to grin at the animal.</p><p>"Quite clearly", he agreed with her. "But tell me, Eri, what do you think?"</p><p>"I don't know, what should I think?" she replied, "She seems nice, and she was the only one who realised from the beginning, before we said a word, that you are an elf. And she knows you too. Well, at least since Jackson's filming most people know your name. I think that could be a good basis for moving forward."</p><p>In the meantime the cake was ready and Mrs. McDuff carried another tray with the cake in. Plates and cake forks were quickly distributed and each of them had a neat piece of cake on the plate.</p><p>"With or without cream?" asked Mrs McDuff, but the question seemed to be rhetorical, as they immediately had a good dash of cream on their plates.</p><p>When she had sat down again, and her guests had assured her that the apple strudel would taste delicious, she said: "At least the apples are good for that. The tree only carries small, wormy, sour apples, but these are in masses. But now tell me your story. Right from the beginning. And don't forget: The details are important."</p><p>So Legolas told what was the last thing he remembered in Middle-earth and what they had found out in London since then. Aimee McDuff listened attentively and made no attempt to show that she thought it was all a hoax. She seemed to believe every word they said, and Eri was very happy about that. One worry less.</p><p>When Legolas ended, Mrs. McDuff just nodded and remained silent for quite a while, while she thought about what she heard. Legolas waited for her answer with visibly growing concern. He had never shown any signs of particular haste since he had been with Eri (at least not what humans would call haste), but now that his return home seemed within reach, he seemed to be getting nervous after all.</p><p>"This is something I have never heard of before," Mrs McDuff finally said. When Legolas was already slumped down, she added: "But that doesn't mean I have no idea how to fix it. First of all, you should know what it's like with fairies these days. More tea?"</p><p>Without waiting for an answer, she gave Eri and Legolas more and put a piece of the apple strudel on their plates. Eri saw herself rolling back into the car.</p><p>"Not all of your people sailed West then, Legolas," Mrs. McDuff continued. "That is, of course, still in your future, if you like. But there were some who stayed. However, they changed over the years, they disappeared, so to speak, and became characters from fairy tales and legends for the people". She pointed to her book collection. "These are our testimonies of them. Much of it is outright nonsense, nice stories for children who made up superstitious people and those with too much imagination. But if you look closely enough, you can see the truth in them."</p><p>"So there are still elves who can help me." Legolas was all excited.</p><p>"Yes, if you know where to look," said Mrs McDuff. "But you may not recognise them as members of your people. As I said, they have changed. We humans have made this world subject to us and there is no room for magical beings in it any more. That has changed them, made them wilder than they had been before. It's no coincidence that the mischief and the evil spirits in all the fairy tales are there. But if you leave them a little bit of their own table, they are nicer. Not even that is something anyone does nowadays. But wondering when the socks disappear in the washing machine. What nonsense!</p><p>"I think there is something else you should know for everything else. There's a reason you ended up here, in the most inappropriate place imaginable."</p><p>Legolas gave Eri a telling look. As if he wanted to tell her that he had told her so. "We asked ourselves the same thing: Why this happened to me," he said. "Do you know anything about it?"</p><p>"I don't know, I'm just an old woman," she said, "but I know a lot of other things, so I can make a guess that I'm very sure is correct. However, you will not like it. You died in your homeland."</p><p>For a moment there was silence, where all you could hear was the purring of the cat and the soft ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner.</p><p>"Dead?", Legolas breathlessly whispered.</p><p>"But... this cannot be!", protested Eri. "He's sitting here next to me and he's real, not some ghost!" She demonstratively drilled a finger into his side. No, that just couldn't be right! How could there be a way back for him when he had died?</p><p>"You have read Tolkien, haven't you?" Mrs. McDuff turned to her, "Then you know that the spirit of the elves comes to Mandos after their earthly demise. They can be reborn and receive a new body."</p><p>Legolas seemed to have recovered his composure surprisingly quickly. "I think I know what you are getting at," he said. "So the wound I received in battle was fatal, but my desire to help my homeland even after the War of the Ring war was so strong that my <em>fae</em> did not find their way to Mandos and strayed here."</p><p>"Where you received and continue to receive the help you need to find your way back" Mrs McDuff ended. "Right. Míriel did not want to return to her earthly shell after she had passed away because of Feanor, but firstly you did not give birth to such a child and secondly you want to go back to take your second chance in this world. And you wouldn't have ended up here if you hadn't been given a second chance."</p><p>"I don't quite follow," Eri said confusedly. It all happened too fast for her.</p><p>"The body is only a shell for us elves," Legolas explained to her, "what really makes us is our <em>fae</em>, our soul, you might say. The body can decay, the soul cannot. It is immortal. If our earthly bodies are destroyed, we return to Mandos and after a time we can receive a new body. This is rare, especially in Middle-earth, but can happen. Remember what you read about Lord Glorfindel."</p><p>"So you throw yourself off the next best cliff and that's it?" she asked, still confused.</p><p>"I don't think it will be that easy," he said. "That my <em>fae</em> got lost in this time at all, I can only explain to myself by the fact that it also suffered a wound in battle that had to be healed first and that was only possible here."</p><p>"And? Is it healed?"</p><p>He smiled. "Yes, I think so."</p><p>"Okay..." Eri still couldn't quite picture it all, but Legolas seemed pretty sure of it and that was what mattered.</p><p>"The cliff will not help us," Mrs. McDuff now confirmed. "But I know where to find the fairies, and as luck would have it, there is a fairy hill nearby, one of their homes. Have you ever heard of <em>Brí Léith</em>? They call it <em>síd</em>, which simply means home. There you will find a passage to Thierna na oge, to the other world, and there you should also find your way back to your home."</p><p>"Can we go there today?" asked Legolas, and the hope of soon being back home seemed to make him shine.</p><p>"Sure, it's not far," said Mrs McDuff. "Mrs O'Kelly, you have such a fancy car. Would you be so kind as to give us a lift if I showed you the way? I'm no good on foot any more, especially when it's across a field."</p><p>Eri saw her Bentley already covered in mud all over, but still she nodded without hesitation. Legolas' joy at being back home soon was contagious. Gone was her bad mood from the morning.</p><p>They couldn't get away, of course, without having another cup of tea and eating some more of Mrs McDuff's apple strudel.</p><p>"You have a good Irish name," she said to Eri. "You have Irish ancestors, don't you?"</p><p>Eri nodded. "I'm named after my grandmother because I'm the first (and only) daughter," she said.</p><p>"According to tradition then," Mrs. McDuff said. "Good. You just can't get away from the old country. And the first name fits. You know, in my family we say we're named after MacDuff. You know, Shakespeare. I almost believe fate has brought the three of us together." She laughed.</p><p>It was already dark when they finally went off to look for <em>Brí Léith</em>. Eri was not entirely comfortable driving her Bentley through any fields in the dark, but Mrs McDuff thought that was the best time.</p><p>"And foggy autumn too! They especially love that," she emphasised once again.</p><p>Legolas looked as tense as a bow and almost reminded Eri of a panther in a cage, ready to jump at any time. He seemed extremely eager to take his chance and she hoped so much for him that they would succeed. But she forbade herself to think any further than this.</p><p>She drove slowly through the twilight and then through the night, following Mrs McDuff's directions. At some point the old lady said she could park the car on a dirt road and walk the rest of the way as it was not far away.</p><p>"But it's best not to take anything from this world," she told Legolas. "You have your clothes from home with you, don't you?"</p><p>Legolas nodded and quickly changed behind the car. Then they walked together across a field in the dark. Legolas gave Mrs. McDuff an arm so she wouldn't stumble, and Eri had pulled out her mobile phone and turned on the camera light to see something in the dark. She could make out a shadowy elevation in the field somewhere in front of her.</p><p>"The farmer goes round and round, and he's always cursing like a washerwoman," said Mrs McDuff."That's his land, after all, he says. But even he has not yet dared to level the hill. He'd be lucky, or he'd be in big trouble, and not only from me!"</p><p>Meanwhile Eri noticed that fog had come up, although he hadn't been there a few minutes ago.</p><p>"I'm going to sing an old song now," said Mrs. McDuff. "This should call out the Silent People. They always liked music."</p><p>She started a simple melody and repeated a series of simple words. Eri wasn't even sure if it could really be called a song: "Da Luna, da Mort, da Luna, da Mort, da Luna, da Mort augus da Cadine."</p><p>She noticed Legolas grabbing her hand and keeping a firm hold of the old woman. I wonder what he was thinking. Eri, for one, could not help but be sceptical, having been so carried away by her enthusiasm about the prospect of his imminent return. She squeezed his hand and smiled encouragingly at him. But should she encourage him at all? What if this was all just a silly farce?</p><p>The fog grew thicker. And then, to Eri's boundless amazement, she heard the delicate ringing of little bells, and it was as if it wasn't quite of this world. Like Legolas.</p><p>"<em>Ai! Na vedui!</em>," he exclaimed joyfully and beamed all over his face.</p><p>"It was easier than ever," Mrs McDuff said, rubbing her chin. "They must have noticed you. Quickly, go into the fog and you will find your way home."</p><p>Legolas turned to Eri and now took her other hand. "This seems to be the moment of our farewell," he said. "I thank you with all my heart for all you have done for me. And please also convey my deepest thanks to Jack. Without you two, I wouldn't be here now."</p><p>Eri could not stop tears from streaming into her eyes. The joy was over, the pain of parting flared up in her chest. If she was completely honest with herself, she had hoped that this moment would be a little longer and not just a little fog and a funny song.</p><p>"Write me a postcard from Valinor, will you?" she sniffed. "It was great with you. But I understand that you have to go. I'll miss you, too."</p><p>"Eri ..." he said so incredibly gently that something broke inside her and she wrapped her arms around his chest, sobbing. Gently, he lifted her chin with a finger and bent down to her. She thought he wanted to kiss her on her hair, but instead she found herself in a kiss, tender elf lips on hers.</p><p>"Nothing would have become of us two, it would not have gone well," he whispered in her ear. "Go back to Jack, you two belong together. I must go now. But I will not forget you. I will never forget you."</p><p>Then he disappeared.</p><p>Eri crumpled her blazer in tears, not caring that they would have ugly wrinkles the next day.</p><p>"I won't forget you either, Legolas…"</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Ai! Na vedui! – Ah! At last!, Sindarin<br/>That little song is from one of the fairy tales, I’ve read for this text.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Epilogue: Home</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"<em>Where?* Mas?</em>"</p><p>Winking, Legolas opened his eyes and was initially confused as to where he was.</p><p>"<em>Ion nín?</em>," he heard someone ask breathlessly.</p><p>He turned his head slightly and looked into his father's blue eyes. Only then did he realise that he was lying in his bed at home in Eryn Lasgalen. Thranduil sat at his bed and looked as if he had not left that chair for weeks. Not to speak of the weeping eyes.</p><p>"<em>Ion nín! Cuiag!</em>" With an exclamation of joy he wrapped his arms around Legolas and wept tears of joy. "I couldn't have borne it if you had really gone to Mandos," he whispered and covered his son's hair with a thousand kisses.</p><p>Legolas returned the hug just as happily. He was home again. He had really made it!</p><p>At that moment, the door to his bedroom flew open with a bang. "Legolas! Lad!" rumbled Gimli's all too familiar voice. "I can't believe it!"</p><p>He hurried to the other side of the bed, grabbed Legolas' hand and patted it as if to convince himself that Legolas was really sitting in front of him and not just a ghost.</p><p>"Your beard is all tousled, friend Gimli," Legolas teased.</p><p>"Hmph!", he said. "You would have pulled your hair out, too, if you just wanted to hunt some orcs with your friend and he suddenly seemed to be lying there dead. Tell me, how is it possible that you are now back among us? I thought you were dead! Even though your father has always maintained otherwise."</p><p>Legolas smiled and remembered all the wonderful moments with Eri. "It's a long story."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Mas? - Where?, Sindarin<br/>Ion nín? - My son?, Sindarin<br/>Ion nín! Cuiag! - My son! You're alive! Sindarin!</p><p>*The text is originally written in German. Legolas didn’t say “wo” here ("where" translates to “wo” in German) but indeed the English “where” to indicate that he still speaks the English he learned and not Sindarin or Westron.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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